Night Walker Meets Dragon Fire
by WritingWoman
Summary: When her best friend is threated, this human steps up to the plate with mysterious powers...and Hiei's stuck with trying to figure out what they are..if he can keep his sanity.What are the figures in the darkness?READ IT!FULL OF SWORDS AND romance.
1. Dreamers

_**Dreamers **_

A dark laugh fluttered in and out of the man's dreams, always followed by a lighter one, until they intertwined and became a single booming laugh, haunting him, chasing him through the realm of his subconscious. The man ran and ran, as fast as he could, yet could not shake the laughing voice. Finally, he was chased into a dead end, the laughter closed in on him, tender and mocking all at the same time. 'This is not who I am!' Thought the man, in a burst of clarity that was rare for a dream. 'I will fight!' He pulled out his katana and spun around, ready to fight, but he was instead transported out of the dead end, and was now falling in the pitch black darkness. As he fell, great white shapes flew by him, scenes of horrifying events, and the laughter became screaming. The man did the only thing he could do.

He woke up.

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With a start, Hiei awoke from the nightmare, not sure why it had seemed so horrible. It had been about laughter, how could he have thought it was scary! Him, the great and terrible Hiei! Pulling the covers over him, he rolled onto his side, snorted at his foolish dream-fright, and fell back into sleep. No dreams plagued him this time.

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Far and far away, two people dreamed of a small man, who had eyes that blazed with an inner fire, and with hair as cool as hell. He stood in their dreams, staring. Just... staring. Then, he drew his katana, and–

Akira Mysa woke up with a groan; the alarm clock, turned on as high as it could go so it would be sure to wake her, had fallen off the night stand and was invading her pillow space. Snatching it up, she flung it across the room, effectively turning it off. She was very tempted to just roll over in bed and go back to sleep, but today was too special for that. Today was her best friends' birthday, and Mysa had just spent way too much time and energy making sure it would be perfect for her to sleep right through it. She had even begged the boy her friend was crushing on to come, just so her friend could have a great day. It was the least she could do, after all these years of Syrin keeping her out of any real trouble. That was her friends' name, O-Rase Syrin, and they had been bests since they met in a junior karate class, the summer before the first grade started. Syrin's mother had been worried about her daughter walking to school, and Mysa's sister just thought it would be good for her character.

Growing up together, they had gone to the same schools, and were inseparable whenever they had the same classes. In elementary school, they had had a pretty tough reputation; even the fifth graders wouldn't pick on them. Their reputation followed them through middle school and even into the tenth grade. They still took karate together, along with multiple other fighting styles, and even ranked fairly high in tournaments. Syrin knew everything about Mysa, and Mysa knew everything about Syrin. That was one of the reasons they fought so well together (the other is practice, lol), because they could almost read each other's minds.

Because of all that, it had taken extra special effort to keep today a secret from her soul sister. Every time someone said happy birthday to Syrin, Mysa had to bite her tongue to keep from mentioning the party. Her tongue was very raw right now, but it had been worth it. Syrin would never see this coming!

Mysa's plan was simple: kidnap Syrin from her parent's house, blindfold her and put her in the car, then take her to their destination, which would just happen to be one of Syrin's most favorite places ever! (I'm making this place up, k? Please don't go looking for it... not that I thought YOU would...) Mysa had saved up all year for this, taking odd jobs around the neighborhood, and asking her sister for money (which she saved in stead of spending it... with a few exceptions...), so that she could afford to take Syrin, Tenshi Kyo (that's the boy Syrin is crushing on. Kyo is their mutual friend, but Syrin had developed feelings for him... and Mysa was sure that he had for Syrin as well) and herself to... the biggest beach/resort/amusement park in all of Japan: _Dragon Fire_, named after their most famous ride, the Dragon Fire Coaster!

As Mysa got dressed, she checked on her 'babies' to make sure that the alarm clock she had thrown had not harmed them. 'Not a scratch!' She thought, then her thoughts turned to the day ahead of her, and she smiled in happy complentation. There was another reason that this day was so special. It was Syrin's sweet sixteenth, and Mysa wanted to get back at her for the awesome party Syrin had sprung on her for her sixteenth, two months ago. Looking out the window at the cloudless sky, she just knew it was going to be a beautiful day.

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"Yes sir." Botan closed the little compact, and sighed. A very important artifact had been stolen, and this one wasn't going to be easy to recover. The scene of the crime was under an amusement park, and she just knew there was no way Yusuke was going to concentrate. It couldn't be helped. She called him first, then the others. Well, everyone she knew would answer, anyway. Kurama had agreed to get Hiei. He was the only one who knew where the little man was right now anyway.

Hiei looked out his window (_for conveniences sake, even though I don't know where Hiei lives, he now lives in a house, really far away from where everyone else lives. Nice, but not flashy, and rather depressing if you study it too much. Kinda dark and brooding like_) and snarled at the sky. It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day. He just knew something was going to come along to ruin it.

And it did.

Kurama popped up to the window, supported by plants. Hiei was a bit surprised, so Kurama almost lost his head. Leaving the window quickly, he shouted through the broken window for Hiei to meet him at the door in ten seconds. Hiei opened the front door before Kurama even stopped shouting.

"What do you want." Hiei asked, in his usual cheery attitude. Kurama looked very embarrassed, and rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, you see... Koenma... Botan... there was something very important stolen, and we have to go get it back!" He smiled cheerfully, then became more serious. "They say if we don't the world is going to end."

"Again? Don't they ever get tired of trying to end the world! I'm sure getting tired of saving it!"

"Apparently they don't. You in? You do live on this world."

"Do you suppose this once I could not, then join the resistance, and kill them then, when it's not so early in the morning?"

"You must have misheard me. They don't want to take OVER the world, they want to end it."

"Oh. Fine." Hiei agreed grumpily. Stomping up to his room, he quickly spiked up his hair, and followed Kurama out. "I suppose we are meeting at the baka's house?"

"No, not this time. We are to meet at the site where the object was stolen. A–" Kurama read the name on his hand. "A Dragon Fire Amusement park/resort/beach." Hiei groaned silently. Of course. It would just HAVE to be around a ton of these stupid humans.

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_W.W.- Hello, one and all! Welcome to my first YYH fanfic! I have one on here from my friend, but I didn't write it, so this is truly my first! I hoped you liked the first chapter, and I hope you like all the ones that follow! -- I know it's kinda short, but it's also 4:00 a.m. now, while I'm writing this, and I can't sleep... but today I read this really nifty YYH fanfic on another site (quizilla, go figure) and now I want to write one of my own! I've always really liked YYH, but there are still a couple things I don't know... the series aired so long ago, you know? Sigh I forget insignificant things easily... like my name, how to spell my middle name, and how to spell just about anything beyond what I use in a daily vocabulary. I mean, how often do you say your own name! What do you think of my character's names, by the way? I made several of them up... don't know if they exist somewhere else... Oh, I know what I should do. Describe Mysa! She has mainly black hair, long, with two long bangs one on each side of her face streaked a blood red. Most of the time she has all of it in a ponytail/braid (seriously, the bangs are that long), but sometimes she'll wear it down. Lots of (baggy) faded jeans, lots of (tight) black t-shirts with smart ass sayings on them... two spiked rings, one on each middle finger... oh and she always paints her nails silver. I think that's... wait, no, I forgot eye color... a blue so dark it's almost black, except around the edges of the iris... then it fades into an electric blue. _I do not own YYH. _Erg... gotta go... busy drawing pic. of what Mysa looks like so I will know. _


	2. Amuse Me

_**Amuse Me.**_

_W.W.- Seriously. I'm bored. J/k, don't bite my head off! Oh, and I forgot. Mysa's pretty. Almost forgot to mention that. Not that you people couldn't have guessed... almost all anime peoples are pretty/hot/handsome/cute; the list goes on. Anyway... what was I gonna say?_

_Hiei- Stupid baka. You were GOING to say that you don't own YYH._

_W.W.- Oh. Yeah. Don't call me a stupid baka, shorty!_

_Hiei- Don't call me short!_

_W.W.- Don't call me baka!_

_Mysa- ... this is going nowhere._

_Kurama- Nope._

_Mysa- Will you have the honors, or will I?_

_Kurama- Go ahead._

_Mysa- WritingWoman does not own YuYuHakusho. She also can't spell, so sorry if anything is _

_spelled wrong._

_W.W.- What, now you're apologizing for me!_

_Mysa- Well, YOU won't do it! _

_W.W.- SO!_

_Hiei- ... stupid baka._

_Mysa & W.W.- SHUT UP SHORTY!_

_Hiei- DON'T CALL ME SHORT!_

_Everyone not involved in Hiei, Mysa & W.W.'s fight- ..._

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Mysa decided to theme today. She was going to be slightly contrasting, with a torn, ripped up black shirt, and perfectly intact blue jeans, letting her hair go loose. Slipping on her spiked rings, she grabbed Syrin's other present, blew a kiss at her newest 'baby', and ran down the stairs.

"Eat something!" Her sister yelled at her as she heard Mysa thunder down the steps.

"There's no food, there's only dad's beer! Meant to tell you last night, forgot!"

"Grab something while you're out, then!"

"Fine, whatever! Be back at ten tonight!"

"Don't kill anybody!" Mysa stopped at the door.

"AW! You just took all the fun out of my day." Her sister laughed as the door slammed shut, and Mysa hopped into her car. Once again she was grateful that her sister was addicted to money, and especially to spending it. On her fifteenth birthday, Raina (Mysa's sister) had gotten her this beautiful black convertible, and had helped Mysa complete all the requirements for her real license. Raina always said it was just so she wouldn't have to drive her baby sister everywhere, and be forced to have all of baby sister's friends in big sister's car. Raina always talked to Mysa like that when she did something nice.

Soon, Mysa was outside Syrin's door. Knocking quietly, her friends' parents let her in.

"We woke her up a couple minutes ago. She should be dressed and ready to go." Her mom whispered, then giggled. "Don't worry, we didn't mention a thing to her." Syrin's dad elbowed her gently, and together they went off into the living room, giggling. Mysa rolled her eyes. 'Parents. Glad the one I got don't do that. Hm... come to think of it, he don't do anything...' She shrugged. That was dad. Then, silently, she walked down the hall to her friend's room. Opening the door, she saw that Syrin was exactly where Mysa suspected she would be. In bed. Fully dressed, and ready for the day, but passed out on the bed. That was Syrin. Grinning, she pounced on the lump, making sure to avoid all booby traps that were in the way.

"WAKEY WAKEY SLEEPING BEAUTY!" Mysa shouted.

"AUGH!" Syrin screamed in response, and tried to struggle out of Mysa's grasp.

"No way, sleeping beauty! We got plans for today! Now come on!" Syrin stopped fighting when she realized it was only Mysa.

"You bitch!" She said, but quietly, so her parents wouldn't hear. Then she grinned an evil smile. "BING!" Mysa shouted and rolled away when a bunch of arrows sped across the room, right where she had been a moment before.

"I wish I had never lent you that money..." She growled.

"I bet you do. You knew I was going to use it to add another one!"

"Yes, I suppose I did." They started laughing. "What violent brats we are!"

"Shut up. Why are you here so early?"

"To kidnap you, of course."

"Of course. I should have guessed. Really, why are you here?" Mysa jumped back on the bed, and this time she got Syrin to hold still long enough to blindfold her. After thinking a second, she also gagged her.

"Now, when have I ever lied to you?" Syrin snorted in amusement. "Yeah, I know. A lot. Anyway, this time I'm not lying. I am kidnaping you. For the day. Why anyone would want you for longer then that I have no idea. I always feel so sorry for your parents! Putting up with you day after day..." Syrin took a blind swing at Mysa. "All right! We're going!"

"Wr?" Was all she could get out.

"I can't tell you. You might leave a note for your parents." Syrin's shook her head violently. "Don't worry, you'll love it! Come on now, march!" Mysa frog marched Syrin out of the room and into her car. Once there she removed the gag, but not the blindfold. "And you'll keep that rag on if you know what is good for ya. By the way, I got another surprise for you, and it's not a rude awakening." Pushing a button on the deluxe stereo, the CD started playing. Syrin screamed.

"B.Y.O.B.! Mysa, you rock! I love this song! Thank you!"

"Yeah, but some of the other songs on this CD are pretty weird... I'll stick with Seether, thanks."

"Wuss... Wait, you listened to the System of a Down CD you got me for my birthday!"

"Of course I did. What did you expect?"

"What else could I expect from a loser, I suppose..." They started laughing, and the rest of the thirty minute trip was spent talking and laughing about inconsequential things, accompanied by some screaming at crappy drivers, who obligingly screamed back.

Yep, this was shaping up to be a great day.

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Hiei groaned silently again. _This_ was why Botan wanted them to meet the rest here. This place was expensive as _hell_, and she didn't want to pay for it.'Damn baka...'

"Kurama, screw this. We don't HAVE to pay. We can just jump over the wall."

"True, but that wouldn't be smart. I don't particularly want to spend all day with a bunch of humans chasing after me. They would slow us down." Hiei said nothing, but stood there as Kurama paid.

"One adult, and one child, please." Kurama had a death wish, apparently.

"If I wasn't so tired, you'd be dead." He muttered at the fox demon in disguise.

"I know. I'm glad your tired." Kurama smiled brightly, and Hiei growled at him. Wisely, Kurama moved a little farther away. Waiting by the entrance, soon all the rest were there, Botan coming in last.

"Hi guys! Let's get started!"

"Hold on a second, Botan. We're in the best park in the whole country, and you want us to work!" Yusuke exclaimed. Botan rolled her eyes.

"I said that before you came..."

"That ain't gonna work. Let's have some fun!" And he walked off toward the ride that was right inside the entrance: The HeartStopper.

"We have a mission! The world is going to end if we... don't... stop..." No one was listening to her, except the random people that were already there, trying to beat the lines. With a broad smile she backed away, and followed the guys to the ride.

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"All right, Syrin, we're here! You can take off the 'damn rag' now!" Syrin took off the blindfold and gasped in surprise.

"MYSA! I LOVE YOU!" /O.O\ (that's Mysa. Recognize the bangs? Lol)

"Uh... chill out, girl, it's just an amusement park. But you're welcome... if you were thanking me... will you stop choking me now!" Syrin was strangling Mysa with a hug.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I just love this place!"

"Happy birthday!"

"YOU BOUGHT THIS PLACE AND ARE GIVING IT TO ME!"

"Really, you need to chill out. We're only here for the day. My sister don't have THAT much money."

"Oh."

"And besides, I paid for this all by myself, I earned the money and everything, just like a person who's sister isn't addicted to cash."

"Aw... how sweet! Race you to the entrance! Loser buys lunch!"

"Bitch! You'd better lose, because I don't have any money on me!"

"You'd better find a way to get some, because you're too slow to catch up with me!" Somehow, after tripping each other and using plenty of Acme supplies that you think only exist on cartoons, they made it to the entrance alive, at the same time, Mysa strapped to a yacht, Syrin tied to the Empire State Building (_don't know what it was doing in Japan... on loan, maybe?_).

"Hey, Syrin... they won't let us in with this much stuff. This guy says we won't fit through the gate. Truce?"

"Truce! This business man is poking me in the back! Something about wanting to go home!" Mysa cut her bonds (which she couldn't do before, under the rules of the game), then went and freed Syrin. Grinning, they went through the entrance. Syrin stood there for a moment, a silly smile on her face, just staring at the rides.

"Have I ever told you how much I love this place?"

"Only once everyday."

"That few? Remind me sometime to catch up."

"I meant once each day for each of the past lives I've ever had included with this one."

"Oh. Okay, then. I suppose that's enough."

"Damn straight it is."

"Syrin! Mysa! Over here! Quit arguing and get over here!"

"Kyo!" Syrin yelled, and together the girls ran over. More like, Syrin ran, and dragged Mysa. "How did you know we were arguing?"

"You always are. You were laughing, besides. Happy birthday, Syrin. Here's your present." He handed her a small box. Inside was a bunch of small but powerful fireworks, and a couple of Syrin's favorite's, the ones that light up in a giant flash, go whizzing into the air, then explode with a sharp crack (_yes, they do exist. They are some of my favorite's too, though I really liked 'Illegal as Hell'. That was some good shit_)

"Thank you, Kyo!" She hugged him, and he blushed a bit. Mysa rolled her eyes. They were straight forward about everything else, but not this... NNOO... had to make it difficult, and get good old auntie Mysa to set them up... couldn't just ask each other out and get it over with.

It was a little while later when they had to stop to get something to eat. It was noon, and the rides at this place were so good that they had each puked a couple of times, so, they were hungry. Thankfully, Dragon Fire was filled with delicious, nutritious food, like cotton candy and ice cream. Splitting the bill between them (Mysa had lied; she had twenty bucks in her pocket; she had claimed that she had merely forgotten that she had stashed money in these jeans, which was possible, because she didn't trust banks much), they settled on pizza, plain cheese, so everyone could eat it. (_Sorry about all the food references, but I'm hungry, and my mom is sleeping in the living room again, so I can't sneak up for anything. The kitchen is right next to the living room, there's not even a real wall in-between them_) They were testing to see if the meal was a good choice or not by riding the Dragon Fire Coaster, and as soon as they got off, Kyo nudged Syrin (They were dating by this point, thanks to several tactless tactics pulled by Mysa), and pointed to a really short person standing outside the picture tent, looking very grumpy.

"Hey, Syrin, look, it's an Oompa Loompa."

"WHERE!" Kyo didn't know that Syrin was slightly afraid of the tiny orange people. "Oh. That's not a Oompa Loompa, Kyo, that's just some little kid. With..." She walked over to the short kid. His friends had joined him by this time, but she ignored them. Kneeling down in front of him, she said, "Aw, look, how sweet. He's all dressed up like he's our age! How cute!"

Hiei's eye twitched, and he reached up to strangle the human, but Kurama and Yusuke held him back.

"I'M NOT A LITTLE KID! I"M NOT SHORT, EITHER! YOU ALL ARE JUST TOO TALL!" Mysa walked up then. She didn't say a word to the still screaming Hiei, but just reached and grabbed the handle of his katana. Everyone who was with him stopped dead, and started to plan their alibis.

"Hm..." Mysa examined the sword, ringing it with a finger nail, staring down the blade, seeing how straight it was, and tested it's sharpness. When she got to that point, she grimaced.

"Syrin, he's not a little kid. Look at this blade. It's in absolute perfect condition, not a nick on it, perfectly worked steel, by an independent craftsman, with a signature handle. No kid could get this. The only thing wrong with it is it's sharpness. This thing couldn't cut dirt."

"Why would you want to cut dirt?" That was the only thing that really registered with Syrin. She wasn't really into swords; she preferred traps and poisons. Mysa sighed.

"It's just an expression, Syrin. You know what I meant. Anyway, look." She ran the blade lightly over the back of her hand, barely touching the skin; a slight cut appeared, and started to bleed. "See? That's all it does. I'm not even hurt." Handing back the katana to an enraged but completely baffled Hiei, she said, "I would fix that for you, but I don't have the right stones with me... BOTAN!" Mysa screamed suddenly. Botan, who hadn't arrived until just then, –because she had to ride the ride one last time!– looked up.

"MYSA! I didn't know you would be here!"

"It's Syrin's B-day, and this is her favorite place! I haven't seen you in a while; where have you been? You haven't met my newest baby yet!" Hiei's group (and everyone else who didn't know Mysa) stared at her. Wasn't she a bit YOUNG to be having children! Then Hiei turned away from the human and looked at Botan.

"You KNOW this baka?" Botan looked at him with slitted eyes.

"She's not an idiot, she's my friend!"

"There's a difference?" Hiei mumbled.

"Hey, don't go calling Mysa names, shorty!"

"Syrin, don't start a fight in the middle of the park... we'll get kicked out. And don't fight because he insulted me. I can't stand people fighting over inconsequential shit like that. Besides, I'd be mad at someone too, if they just walked up and took my sword." Mysa calmed down Syrin with bullshit, then turned to Hiei with death in her eyes. He met her glare. Botan broke the contest by stepping between the two.

"Mysa! It really is good to see you! What's your new baby look like?"

"She couldn't of possibly have had children." Yusuke said. Botan, Mysa, Syrin and Kyo stared at Yusuke, then laughed.

"My...My... Mysa have... Children! Are you kidding! She probably would have killed them already!" Kyo laughed, while supporting both himself and Syrin, so that they didn't hit the floor.

"Me! Have children! No, thank you! Not now, anyway! Hey... who said I would have killed them! I like kids! A little... the ones not related to me..." Mysa stopped laughing and pouted. Syrin wiped away her tears of laughter, then smiled apologetically at Mysa.

"Sorry. But it really is a funny idea... one of your babies... children..." She snorted.

"... All that aside, Botan, how do you know her?"

"What, I'm not allowed to have mortal friends?"

"Will you shut up! They can't–"

"They already know. Hey, Mysa, these guys have been jerks; don't mention it to them, k? It's more fun when you keep them in the dark anyway."

"But it's such a good story..." Syrin guffawed (now there's a word you don't see often).

"Yeah, if you want to fall asleep."

"Hey, I don't complain about all the times you tell me about this place and your traps." Hiei was staring at the woman –Mysa– while the rest talked. Every time he looked away, she blurred a little bit, as if she was moving really fast. But as soon as he looked back, it was gone. Mysa caught him doing this, and just looked at him oddly, then,

"So, Botan, what are you doing here, with all these guys?"

"Working."

"At an amusement park! What could happen at an amusement–" She was cut off by a large crashing noise.

"I told you guys to take care of it earlier!" Botan yelled at the guys as they raced off. Syrin looked at Mysa.

"This could be interesting, especially if Botan is involved. You get some popcorn, and meet us there, okay?" Mysa grumbled, but went to get the popcorn. As she was walking to the site of the explosion, she was nearly trampled by the swarms of people leaving the area. Mysa started to panic.

"**_SYRIN! KYO! BOTAN! WHERE ARE YOU GUYS! SYRIN!_**" Syrin was just standing there, in the middle of all the swarming people. Kyo was collapsed in a heap next to her. Botan was standing with her small group, off to the side, but they weren't moving. Mysa ran to Syrin. "Syrin! What's wrong with you! Why is everybody running! Why aren't you!"

"Mysa... Mysa... it's getting hard to breathe... why can't I move?...Mysa!" Mysa picked up on the worried tone in her friend's voice, and whipped around. She saw the reason why everyone was panicking, and wondered why she hadn't seen it before. It was _huge_, the size of a coaster at the least. Currently, it was picking through the people, among the few that couldn't move, then did a sharp turn about. Mysa saw it's face, and nearly puked. The thing was horrible to look at. It's eye's lit up when they saw her. No, when they saw Syrin.

"_Yes..._" It hissed. "_That's the one... that soul!_" It began to come toward them, slowly lurching on mutilated legs. It looked like the rotting pieces of corpses from every species all sewn together and brought back to life. But when it spoke, Mysa realized that what it wanted was to kill Syrin.

"No..." She whispered, and tried to shove Syrin, tried to get her to walk. But all Syrin could do was say,

"Mysa... it's so hard to breathe..."

"**_NO!_**" Mysa screamed, just as the monster reached them. He was reaching down, to pick Syrin up, and kill her. She knew this, just knew it. She stared straight into it's eyes as it reached down to push her out of the way and get to the prize. "No." She whispered.

Suddenly,

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_W.W.- And this is where I leave you! Good bye!_


	3. What Happens Next

_**What Happens Next:**_

Suddenly, the monster froze up; then he disintegrated into a giant pile of foul smelling black dust. Something tinkled and shattered, then Syrin could move again.

"Mysa!" She screamed, and flung herself, sobbing, at her friend. "I couldn't move... it was so horrible...why couldn't I move?" Mysa just stood there, comforting her friend; it was all she could think to do. She had no answers for her.

Meanwhile, everyone with Botan was asking her the same question, though they were all much less emotional then Syrin. Botan shook her head and glared at them.

"This is why you people do what you do! The reason you couldn't move is because the demon was wearing an amulet that represses all excess spirt energy, making the person unable to move. _THAT_ was the item stolen, THAT was what you were sent here to recover, when instead you went on rides." She glared at them. "Now it's broken, congratulations."

"Botan, scold us later. If that amulet was so powerful, how did the demon die?" Kurama asked, urgency in his voice. "What was it after, that it stayed here for so long?"

"I... I don't know." Botan said. She sounded defeated. "My book says nothing about this. Not how he died or anything. Nothing."

"That stupid human girl had something to do with it, the one with the black and red hair." Hiei said, glaring at the person he spoke about as she and her friend went to check on Kyo.

"How do YOU know, huh?" Kuwabara asked in a snotty tone.

"I'm not sure... She blurred right before the demon died, so it makes sense that she had something to do with it." They stared at him. "What?" Oh, that's right. He had forgotten to mention his earlier observations.

Syrin started to shake Kyo. Mumbling, he woke up.

"Syrin? My head hurts... and I'm hungry." Syrin started laughing. Kyo was fine, probably only got his head knocked about a little. Then he started to remember things. Sitting straight up, he grabbed Syrin's shoulders and asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She said, with a smile, and he hugged her tight. This is where Botan and the others interrupt.

"Mysa! Syrin! Are you guys okay?" Mysa smiled at her friend.

"We're all just fine, Botan. How are you guys?"

"I'm fine, and you have to have a nuke to hurt these guys, so don't worry about it." The smile faded off of Mysa's face.

"Botan. What just happened?"

"To be perfectly honest, we don't know. Hiei has a theory, but not much proof for it."

"He was after Syrin." Mysa stated, and her face went as dead and blank as a piece of slate.

"What? Why would he be after Syrin?"

"He wanted her soul. That's all he said." Botan took a closer look at Syrin then she ever had before.

"Oh. It looks like we have a bigger problem then I first thought." Mysa looked sharply at Botan.

"What? Are more monsters going to come after her?" The hatred that had been smoldering in her eyes became a full fire at the thought.

"Yes, they are, I'm afraid. This is bad... If they wanted Syrin, they must be trying to resurrect Jang-kombe (_again, made it up, don't know if it means anything, sorry if it does, pronounced as spelled_), the demon 'god'. He was the most powerful demon to ever roam the earth, was here long before the gate was created. He wasn't an actually god, but he was very close, one of the higher ranking demons, and he was smart enough to get to earth. It took a lot to get that one in his grave, I would prefer not to see him walk again. (_Ain't it great how anime's don't need a writer's convenience? One of the characters just knows everything about everything_)"

"Why do they want Syrin, though? She seems ordinary enough to me. I can't sense anything special about her." Yusuke said.

"That's because her spirit energy is dormant. She's just a physical storage for spare energy in the universe. She can't use it, but she can be used to resurrect Jang-kombe."

"Then let's just kill her." Hiei said. Mysa stopped listening to Botan and fixed her gaze on Hiei. He had never been so afraid of a human in his life. Slippery visions of the death, disease and torture filled his mind, but it wasn't him dying and such. It was the deaths and such of every friend, and he was being forced to watch, unable to do anything. He knew it was only visions, but it was still horrible. With the visions came the knowledge that instead of dying, he would be trapped in a world where all he saw were these visions, until he believed them, and there was nothing else. The pressure on his mind was unimaginable. "Never mind." He squeaked out, and the thoughts stopped as she shifted her gaze.

"We couldn't kill her anyways. If they happened to be in the vicinity, these people that are trying to bring him back to life, they could still capture her soul and use the energy." Hiei dragged Botan away abruptly.

When they were out of earshot, Hiei said, "I know how she killed him. She used her mind." Botan snorted at him.

"Please, Hiei. Can you sense any kind of energy around her? Was she frozen by the amulet? Hardly. This is..." She was about to say nonsense, but then remembered her particular history with this girl. "Why do you think she killed him with her mind?"

"Because when I suggested we kill her friend, she just stared at me, and I felt like... I was going to... die if I said one more thing she didn't want to hear." Normally, Hiei wouldn't be this generous with information, but he was shaken up by how she had seemed to burn a hole through his head with her eyes. He almost shivered, but controlled the impulse. Botan seemed lost in thought. Then she looked at him.

"I don't like this, Hiei. I don't like this at all. Because Syrin was the focus of the attack, we're going to have to be watching her; but if Mysa has some sort of power we've never seen before, we're going to have to watch her too... Hiei, you can watch Mysa. Make sure she doesn't kill anybody else or something, try to find out if she actually did it. That's an order." She said, when he was about to protest. "You're the only one who saw this shadow/blur thing, you'll be the only able to tell if she uses it. The rest of us will be watching Syrin." Hiei glowered at her, but didn't outright refuse, so she took it as a yes, and started to walk back to the others.

Hiei also glared at Mysa. Damn. Why did he get stuck watching the human idiot? But he had to admit; he was curious. Not only about how she killed the demon, but about sharpening his sword... he didn't think there was a way possible to get it sharper. And she had really appeared to know a thing or two about a good blade.

Of course, he didn't have to admit it to anyone else...

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Mysa and Syrin were waving goodbye to Kyo as his mom arrived to pick him up. Ducking into the car, he slumped into the back seat, and sighed heavily.

"Anything new happen?"

"... Not that I could say..." He didn't want to be locked up in a loony bin; he and Syrin

were finally going out, he couldn't afford to get put away right now.

Hiei rejoined the group just as Kyo's van went out of sight. Botan was talking to Mysa and the rest.

"Because the demon was after Syrin, we'll have to be watching her 24/7."

"I'll be helping too, of course." Botan looked at Mysa as she spoke, and Mysa just stared back, face entirely devoid of any emotion. The Grim Reaper wasn't flooded with the thoughts Hiei said occurred, but just the look on the woman's face was scary enough.

"... All right, I suppose so. Where can we hide her?"

"Spirit World?" Yusuke suggested. Botan shook her head.

"No, as a dormant energy, she can't go there without causing a lot of chaos. And chaos means lots of extra paperwork for me. So, it has to be somewhere here, on earth."

"We could always go to Syrin's house," Mysa said. "She lives in a fortress. If we just activated all the electronical traps as well as the ones she just has lying around, there's no way someone could get in and live." The rest looked at each other and shrugged. Sounded as good a place as any. "Good, then it's agreed. I'll drive Syrin home, and Botan can tell you all where she lives. I don't care how you get there, just do it soon." Mysa and Syrin began to walk away, but Botan stopped them.

"Wait! You can't just leave, after we already agreed to watch out for her!" Mysa rolled her eyes at Syrin, then turned to give Botan her full attention. "You could at least take on other person along. Think, Mysa; double the protection." The human girl looked back over at her friend, then slowly nodded.

"All right... but just one. He can come with us." She pointed at Hiei. "He's small and won't take up that much room. Besides, he's the only one of you that is openly armed, so if anyone thinks of coming after Syrin, they might think twice." She shot a grin at her friend. "I told you all those war games would pay off someday. Listen to me, I actually sound like I know what I'm doing." Syrin smiled back, but something about her smile made Mysa frown. Looking back at Botan, she said, "Well, we'd better be off. The sooner Syrin is locked away, the better." The two girls hurried away, and, with a dark glance at Botan, Hiei followed them.

"That's not like Hiei. He went with them without saying a word. Not even an insult." Kurama stated. Kuwabara made a kissy face at their retreating backs.

"Aw, looks like shrimpy's got a girlfriend!" Both he and Yusuke cracked up, and would have continued laughing if Botan hadn't smacked them upside the head with her oar. Looking very annoyed, she said,

"He's doing me a favor, okay! Trying to help figure out how the demon died. Hiei has a hunch on who did it, and he's doing a lot more then either of you are right now! So just leave off!" Yusuke and Kuwabara rubbed their heads gently and whimpered. 'What's got into her!' Yusuke wondered. Botan was just honestly worried about Mysa and Syrin. In the four years she had known them, they had grown rather close. She shook her head, clearing it of past memories, and set about giving the boys their instructions. Once that was done, she reported all the events to Koenma.

Almost all. She 'forgot' to mention the ten times she rode on the LieDetector.

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Mysa and Syrin were booking it to get to the car. Not running, just walking really fast. Hiei kept pace with them, and wondered why Mysa kept looking over her shoulder, watching his companions. When they reached the car, his friends were out of sight.

"Is it okay now?" Syrin choked out in a shaky voice.

"Yeah. They can't see us." Mysa answered. Syrin let out a huge sigh and collapsed into

the convertibles back seat. She sat there a moment, doing nothing, then put her head in her hands and started to shake.

"Oh, god..." She whispered. Mysa said nothing, going around to the other side of the car, and digging under the driver's seat. She came up with a pillow in her hands, and she handed it to Syrin. Still shaking, Syrin lay down in the back seat, resting her head on the pillow. Mysa got in the driver's seat and rested her head against the steering wheel.

Hiei watched all this in disgust. Why did humans have to be so emotional? Shooting Mysa a look, he said, "I'm supposed to get into this thing with you driving?" Mysa sighed, lifted her and, and rolled it on her shoulders until she was looking at him. Quietly, she said,

"Listen, katana. I don't know your name. Frankly, I really don't care at the moment. But my friend had just gone through her first near-death experience, okay? She happens to need some time to come to grasps with her mortality, and until she does, would you just mind shutting up? Yes, you're supposed to get into the car. I won't be driving until she's settled her issues. One more thing, though. I picked you to come because I knew you don't give a flying rat's ass about emotions. You have it written all over your face. Because of that, I knew you wouldn't get all weepy over her breakdown, and offer her sympathy, which she really does not need right now, and I know you wouldn't go telling everybody about this. Syrin has a lot of pride. When this is over, and I find out that anyone besides us three knows about her current condition, I'll come after you. I don't care who or what you are, or how little a chance I might have. I don't care what you say about me after this. But one whisper about her, and I'll chase you down to the ends of this earth and any other." There was a long silence in the car.

Hiei didn't know what to say to that. He didn't know whether to be amazed at her stupidity for being willing to die over her friend's pride, or awed by her fierce loyalty.

"Hiei." He said finally.

"What?"

"My name. It's Hiei." There was another long silence, then Mysa said,

"Well, Hiei, you have some kick ass hair." Both were startled by a large laugh from the back seat. Grinning in relief, Mysa twisted in her seat to look at Syrin. The life was back in her face, and her eyes were twinkling with suppressed laughter. "Yay! She walks among the living once more!" This proved too much for Syrin; her laughter poured out of her, a flood of it. Mysa joined her, and when their fit was over, she asked seriously, "Are you okay now?" Syrin smiled at her friends concern.

"Peachy. Let's go! If I'm under possible attack, this gives me an opportunity to rig some more traps!"

"Breathing is a good enough reason for you to build traps."

"What luck to have both opportunities at the same time! I get to build double the traps! Come on! Let's go!" Mysa smiled a crazy woman smile that Syrin knew all too well. Tapping Hiei on the shoulder, she said, "Well, Cool Hair, you might want to buckle up." Hiei snorted. "Suit yourself." Syrin used all three buckles in the back seat to strap herself in. "GO!" She yelled; and go they did.

Pushing one hundred, they squealed onto the highway; Hiei was fumbling with the seatbelt, and Mysa was laughing like a mad woman as she wove perilously between the cars. Other drivers leaned out of their windows and screamed as the black convertible whizzed by; Mysa and Syrin continued where they had left off earlier, screaming obscenities back at the other drivers.

When Hiei saw that the convertible had come within a hair's width of another vehicle, he turned to Mysa and screamed above the wind,

"ARE YOU CRAZY, YOU DAMN BAKA!" Not moving her eyes from the road, she answered him.

"WHY YES, I DO BELIEVE I AM!" With an evil cackle, she swerved dangerously close to a Hummer. "YOU HALKING WASTE OF MONEY!" She screamed at it.

"SHE IS." Syrin yelled in a better answer to Hiei's question. But, it seems that craziness is contagious, because Syrin started smiling Mysa's smile. "MYSA!"

"YEAH? **GET OFF THE ROAD, GRANDPA!**" She saw Hiei staring at her. "WHAT? THAT WAS MY GRANDPA, AND HE KNOWS HE'S TOO OLD TO BE DRIVING!" Hiei looked at the car she was yelling at, and, sure enough, there was an old man driving just like Mysa. Odd thing was, he was wearing a big yellow Carmen-San-Diego-type hat with a petrified squirrel on top, and he was driving a little clown car. (_That's what I want to be when I grow up! Well, if he was female, anyway_)

"MYSA! STOP YELLING AT YOUR GRANDPA AND LISTEN TO ME! I DON'T THINK WE'RE GOING FAST ENOUGH! I CAN STILL TALK!" Mysa didn't bother to answer, at least not vocally. Instead, she pushed the pedal to the metal. Slowly the needle inched toward 200 mph, and Hiei clutched the leather of his seat in a well disguised panic. He was certain they were going to die, especially with this baka at the wheel.

_Hiei's POV- in his mind, this is what he's saying 'SSSSSSSSHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTT!'_

_Mysa's POV- Demonic smily face, with smile getting bigger and bigger as it screams 'WWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!' until smile is bigger then the head_

With a huge jolt, they stopped abruptly in the street of a small neighborhood. Bewildered, they watched as a small man with red hair, all dressed in green, and horribly drawn, ran across the hood of Mysa's car, screaming,

"You'll never get my Lucky Charms, you sons of bitches!" He was on the ground again, and running up the street. A gang of similarly poorly drawn young boys stopped for a breather next to the car.

"He's right," one gasped out. "We'll never catch him this way." Looking at each other, they nodded, pulled out semiautomatics, and gunned down the leprechaun. Picking over the body, they not only got his Lucky Charms, but also his stash of hash, and all the money that was on him. Grinning at each other, congratulating themselves, it was soon agreed to go 'wabbit hunting', because it was said that the Rabbit had stolen some good 'Trix', and that it was much wanted by kids everywhere. They started drawing up plans right on the spot.

"HEY! Ray-Ray! Get your ass over here, kid!" Mysa shouted. The boy who had first suggested the guns looked up, sighed, and trotted over.

"What do you want, My-San?" He muttered.

"If you see Sis before I do, tell her I'm gonna be at Syrin's for an indefinite period."

"Fine. Can I go now?"

"Sure. Just remember it. If I find out that you forgot, I'll make sure that sniper gun in my closet never finds it way under your Christmas tree." The boy's eyes widened, he nodded, and ran off, quickly getting his friends out of the road.

"Those ten year olds have guns." Hiei stated. Mysa snorted.

"Of course they do. They hang out with my cousin Ray-Ray." Syrin spoke up.

"Mysa, this isn't the way to my house."

"I know. We're making a quick stop at my house first. Got to get some stuff." She slammed on the gas again, and away they varoomed. Hiei wondered in his mind, 'What the fuck have I gotten myself into?'

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A couple minutes later, they screeched to a halt outside Mysa's house. Hiei muttered, "And you say the demon was her first near death experience?" Mysa heard him, and answered back just as quietly, but with a smile in her voice: "Her first that I didn't have a hand in." Hiei turned to look at the house.

'What. The. Fuck.' He thought.

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_W.W.- I hate that fucking Lucky Charms guy. I also hate that damn rabbit. Toucan Sam is also on my hit list. Damn bird thinks he's so cool..._


	4. Sharp Pointy Things

_**Ch.4: Sharp Pointy Things**_

_WritingWoman: Thanks to my reviewers! You all rock! Thanks AnonymousHieiFan101 for the compliments! Thanks jojogoodgirlgonebad2005 for YOUR compliments, and for putting my story in your favorites! Yeah, I know the speed limit I had them at was pretty stupid, but that's how I'd drive (assuming I had a car...lol) I guess all the policemen were having a donut break._

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Climbing out of the car, Hiei stared at the house. It was a gruesome looking building, with a room jutting out of the wall every now and again, with towers and obvious add-ons. He grimaced. The place was also painted in clashing colors, as if the owners didn't give a damn, and just painted it with whatever was handy. Mysa sighed.

"Home sweet home. Come on in, I won't be long. Just be very careful what you touch. Syrin has been winning some bets lately, and so my house isn't as safe as it once was. Glad I won the bet over the spring-loaded guillotine over the doorway. By the way, Syrin, I rigged that one."

"I KNEW IT!" Syrin cried.

"I'm sure you did." Mysa said in a condescending tone meant to put Syrin's teeth on edge. Hiei said nothing, and stopped right inside the door. Mysa turned to look at him. "You coming?"

"No."

"Suit yourself. Just don't touch the phone book. It bites anymore." She rolled her eyes at her best friend, who was doing the pee dance.

"Mysa, I really got to go!"

"You know where the bathroom is." Syrin groaned and hurried off. Soon, they heard a loud crash, but Mysa didn't pause on her way up to her room. "That's just Syrin fighting her way through the beer cans. I'll be right back." She went two steps before she realized that Hiei had given up his post at the door and was now following her. "What changed your mind?"

"There's a flood of freaks coming into your house."

"Are they deliberately missing the third green tile, second from the left?"

"Yes."

"Oh, then they're Family. No need to worry." He continued to follow her up to her room. Mysa shrugged and opened her door.

Instantly they were blinded by a brilliant light. She threw up an arm to protect her eyes, and started to swear colorfully. Feeling her way through the room, she made it to the opposite wall and closed the blinds.

Hiei thought he was in heaven, if such a place existed.

The walls were completely covered with katanas, samurai swords, daggers and knives. They were all of the finest craftsmanship he had ever seen, and there were so many you couldn't tell what the color of the wall was. Even the ceiling was coated with them. Looking closer, he saw that not only swords of the Japanese tradition hung on the walls; there were also European, Chinese, and multiple others. Either encrusted with jewels, or plain and serviceable, they were all in peak condition.

"Think fast!" Mysa said, whipping out a small throwing knife and throwing it at him. Hiei, though slightly off guard, still not only managed to dodge the knife, but catch it expertly and throw it back with deadly aim. Mysa narrowly escaped his toss, and caught the knife in it's sheath, then smiled at Hiei.

"Ah, so you do have skills. Good ones, too. You have my admiration." She made a small bow and went back to what she had been doing. Smacking a bed post, it popped open and she put the knife back in it's place. Hiei snarled at her compliment, and studied the room further.

It became quite clear that the woman was obsessed.

The bed was a canopy bed, but the posts were carved to look like katanas, and the words for war and blood had been painstakingly etched into the polished wood. The canopy itself showed steps to sword fighting techniques, and the floor of the room was littered with catalogs. He picked one up and looked at it. Filled with sharp pointy things, of course.

"Duck!" She shouted, and kicked her night stand. Hiei dropped to the floor as five nine inch long knives flew out of it and buried themselves to the hilt in the wall above him. "Sorry about that, but it's the only way the thing opens now. Syrin." She said, by way of explanation. Hiei got up off the floor, and went to sit in a chair off to the side, hopefully out of the way of anymore missiles. After rummaging through the drawer for a minute, Mysa pulled out two small boxes. She opened them, and took out the contents. One was a pocket knife the size of a fist. The other... was a pen.

"Aren't these just so cute?" She walked over and showed them to Hiei. "The pocket knife, the one shaped like the Grim Reaper, I bought for Botan, as a joke. The pen I bought because I just couldn't resist! See, when you twist it like this and pull, it becomes a decent knife, and it really does work as a pen too." She smiled at him again and tucked them into her jeans pocket, then she went over to one of her walls and considered the swords on them. Hiei joined her, out of curiosity more then anything else. She was silent for a moment, then she asked quietly,

"What type of attacks do you think we can expect? Subtle? Swift? Powerful? A combination?"

"Subtle and swift at first, more power later on." She nodded and took down a couple, then passed them to Hiei. "Hold these a minute, will you?" Normally, he would have refused, but instead he took a look at them. Mysa wandered away, studying her walls again.

The three swords he held were of beautiful craftsmanship. They slid out of their sheaths like silk, opening and closing without sound. These were serviceable blades, only lightly decorated. Because of the style, he could tell they were made by the same sword smith. All sheaths were mostly black, without even a token cross guard, and simple designs etched into the black in gold, silver and a metallic blue.

"...of course, I'll have to bring my newest baby along." Mysa said. Hiei realized that she'd been talking the whole time he had been busy studying her swords, but she had been talking in a quiet, soothing voice, as if to intentionally not intrude on his thoughts. He looked up to see her take an exquisite sword off the wall. The sheath and hilt were of the deepest red wood, highly polished, but so dark it only gleamed red in certain lights, and even then it looked blood red. Worked into the wood were intricate gold wire designs of enchanting beauty. To top it off, where the pommel should have been there was a hammered gold character he had never seen before. The symbol had small chimes attached to it by silk thread, which she carefully untied and put in the still open night stand drawer. Then she pulled out the blade.

It shone gloriously, nothing to mar it whatsoever, not even a fingerprint.

"And you see, this is what I meant about yours being dull." She ran her blade across her hand, using the exact same amount of pressure, but her blade bit much deeper, drew more blood. "Now, that hurts. See, the secret is–"

"MYSA!" Syrin called up the stairs. "SOME OF YOUR FAMILY ARE HERE, AND THEY WANT TO SEE YOU FOR A MINUTE." She laughed and added, "RAY-RAY'S HUNGRY!"

"RAY-RAY'S ALWAYS HUNGRY!" She shouted back. Two pairs of eyes peeped over her door frame.

"Ooh! MYSA'S ALONE in her ROOM with a BOY!" The eyes disappeared, but Mysa could hear them chanting the sentence over and over as they went down stairs. She flushed a light red and ran out the door, brandishing her sword.

"Why you little brats! Get back over here NOW, and I promise to kill you quickly!" Hiei heard screaming and crashing. Then all was quiet, and Mysa appeared at the door, still a bit pink. "Sorry about that. Those were the twins. I'll take my swords back now." Hiei started to hand them back, when his lip started twitching. "What's the matter with you?" Mysa asked him crossly, and realized he was trying not to smile. "Don't you dare laugh, jackass. Get out of my room so I can pack." She nabbed her katana's from him and shoved him out the door, slamming it behind him.

He was snatched up before he really knew what was happening.

Unfortunately for him, he was caught in a river of humans, as they swept towards Mysa's door. When they stopped, he was buried behind them, and couldn't see what was going on, so he fought his way to the front.

There was a small bubble of human-less space right in front of the door, and then a woman a few years older then Mysa (and looking a lot like her too) was shoved into the space. Dusting herself off and shooting a snooty glance back at the hands that had pushed her, the woman rapped imperiously on the door.

"WHAT!" He heard Mysa shout through the door. "WHO IS IT!"

"IT'S RAINA! OPEN UP, LITTLE SISTER!" Ah. Well, that explained why she looked like Mysa. The door snapped open, and an irate Mysa appeared in it's place. Her hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, sharply altering her appearance. Her face was much more angular, much more harsh; and her hair, instead of being separate black and red, had mixed together to have the same red-rust color of drying blood. Hiei made an annoyed face at himself, irritated that he had noticed. Mysa blinked as she became aware of the mass of people.

"Oh. Sis, what's the Family doing here? It's not Sunday." Raina shot a mistrustful look at Hiei, stepped closer to Mysa, and whispered behind her hand in her little sister's ear. Hiei watched Mysa's face carefully, not bothering to strain himself to hear what was being said. He saw a brief flare of joy in her face, but it was so quickly masked by sorrow he doubted that anyone of these bakas had seen it. Raina stepped away.

"That's why we're all here. And remember, we never mention Family business to those outside the Family. And you remember the rules for those here at times like these." She looked at Hiei again to make her point. He felt fleeting satisfaction; she had a right to be against trusting him, but for reasons other then what she thought.

Mysa followed Raina's gaze, then angrily looked back at her sister.

"Sis! How could you think that I would let someone I didn't trust implicitly into the Family House! Do you really believe that I would let a snitch inside these walls!" Several in the mob looked down at their feet, and shifted uneasily. "Oh! So now no one trusts my judgement! Well, I vouch! Anyone oppose!" No one said anything. Raina sighed, and cut off her sister before she could launch into a full blown tirade. Now was not the time or place.

"No, My-Chan, no one thought that. No one opposes, if you feel so strongly. We remember last time. It was also a reminder to the rest of the family, that's all. Now, come downstairs, and direct the cooking." The mob nodded and a few ever cheered. Mysa still looked mutinous, then said,

"I can't. I won't be here for a while, I'm not going to be here. Extended Family has been threatened–" the crowd suddenly bristled with loaded guns and weapons of all sorts. A collective growl rose from many throats. Hiei looked into the crowd and saw the true emotionless gaze of cold blooded killers mingled with the rest. Yet again he wondered what was up with these people. But Mysa had continued, her angry expression replaced by a fond one. "No, no, you cannot help. I claim full responsibility for the protection of the Extended Family Member, O-Rase Syrin." Groans of disappointment filled the air. Mysa actually smiled. "That's right, I'm doing this by myself, none of you can lift a finger, unless absolute death threatens. NOW! All of you go! I have to pack. If you are staying, this week my cookbook is hidden under the third fridge. I'll need it before I leave, so write down a recipe or two quickly." She slammed the door shut, but opened it again. "And Sis, STOP GOING THROUGH MY ROOM! Every time you do, you leave the blinds open, which practically kills me when I walk through the door!" Door shut. A few chuckles rippled through the mob, but soon they dispersed.

Hiei stood in his place for a second. The stupid baka trusted him! She barely knew him! He had even suggested that they kill her friend! Then he snarled and went to look over the house, searching for any demons. 'Baka. Trusting people just like that will kill her someday.' He deliberately ignored the panic the thought gave him. What did he care? She was only human.

Mysa sighed and slumped against the door, thanking (**place choice here**) that she had been able to get rid of the immediate distrust and hate that Hiei had unknowingly stirred up. She would never have brought him here if she had known the Family would be coming! The rules on outsiders were strict. If they went inside the House, they died, unless it was agreed on by the whole to let him/her live. If it had been just her sister and her dad here, it would have been fine, but only a choice few were allowed in on Family Day. Hiei had no idea how close he had come to dying today. He also had no idea that he had just become an Extended Family Member, under Mysa. Mysa winced and continued packing. At least this time it was easier then it had been to get Syrin accepted. Much easier. For now.

But, somehow, she didn't think he'd be exactly thrilled to learn that he was part of her Extended Family, which meant he was dateable to any and all in the Family. Shit. That meant that Rashu, Tya, and Jing-Quo would be 'after' him. '_Well, of course they will, he's cute. Wait, where did that come from!_' Forcing her brain back on track, she continued, No, not thrilled at all.

Especially if he knew that made him her responsibility while he was in the House. Come to think of it, she wasn't especially thrilled either.


	5. The Family

**_The Family_**

Hiei walked down the stairs and into the hall where Syrin had disappeared earlier. Turning a corner, he was confronted by a monster pile of empty beer cans. Zipping up to the top, he heard a tv coming from the left, and slid down the mountain into a room plastered with football posters, furnished with nothing but Laz-E-Boys, a tv, and fat old men. The man sitting in the center heard him enter the room, and invited him in for a beer. Hiei entered the room further, but did not take the offered beer. The fat old man chuckled, and said,

"Wise choice, boy; you don't want to end up like us sad fuckers." The man downed the beer in one breath, and pulled out a new one. He chuckled again, and Hiei realized why he was so familiar.

The fat, wasted old man was non other then Mysa's father. He also put out no exceptional Spirit Energy. The man spoke again.

"Ah, so you must be the young blood stirring up all the trouble in my house. Well, good for you. My name's Myogen. Akira Myogen. I can see you're not dead, so someone must have vouched for you. Bet it was Mysa. Always getting into hot water with the Family, 'mazing she hasn't been kicked out yet. 'Course, she's also the best cook, so it's all good." Hiei decided not to listen to the old man's drunken raving's anymore, and was at Beer Mountain when Mysa's father said something of interest. "... the last time she vouched for a person, she almost died. Now that was a good fight! We lost Harkio that day, but I always thought he was a bastard anyway, not deserving the Family... you should ask to see her scars, she's got an impressive set..." Myogen fell asleep before saying more. While that annoyed the shit out of Hiei, it also made him think, made him terribly curious, about this vouching stuff. What was it all about? What were these rules? He climbed over Beer Mountain and continued down the hall.

Soon he came to a place with three doors. He opened the one on the left, and through it was a vast corridor of doors, with names inscribed on bronze plates on each door. 'This must be where everyone stays.' Sensing nothing, and not wanting to search for the end of the hall, he turned around and chose another door.

This one led to a giant kitchen, where rows upon rows of fridges, stoves, and counters swam before your eyes as far as you could see. A huge group of people were clustered around the counter, chattering over something and scribbling furiously, but as soon as he entered, all hands stopped what they were doing, and all eyes stared at him, some with open hostility.

Not giving a shit, he sauntered in and looked at what they were drooling over. 'A cookbook?' He vaguely remembered Mysa mentioning it earlier. Every recipe was handwritten, with well detailed sketches of the finished product. And, of course, there were doodled katana's in the borders. Of course. With one last glance around the room, he walked back out again, not saying a word. He didn't trust himself to. One of the dead-eyed killers he had seen earlier had been in there, wearing a pink ruffled apron.

As he closed the door, he heard the room come back to life once more, and regaining his composure, he walked through the third door.

Inside was a large dining room, filled to the brim with people from all walks of life. Poor mingled with rich, and goths even talked with preps.

Not a single hint of Spirit Energy.

But a big hint of embarrassing times ahead. Immediately, as he walked through the door, three individuals swooped down on him, flirting shamelessly, petting him and cooing at him. One was male.

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_W.W.- Don't worry, this isn't going to suddenly turn into a shounen ai fic. (Sorry if you wanted it to, but it's not going to happen) But come on! Hiei's so cute! If I was a guy, I would hit on him too!_

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A knock sounded on Mysa's door.

"Who's there?" She called, already knowing the answer.

"Boo!"

"Boo who?"

"You don't have to cry, it's just a joke." It was really lame, but Syrin had insisted on a password for Mysa's door so it would open when it heard them say the joke. Mysa didn't know why she insisted, but she did, and for so long that Mysa finally caved.

That's why everything was settled with bets now.

Syrin walked in and plopped down on the bed, the stared at Mysa.

"Why do they do they like him so much? They let him in without a protest."

"Dunno. Maybe they recognized that he was like Tashio."

"Maybe. But it took such a fucking lot to get me in! I still don't think it was worth it, Mysa."

"Hey. You're like a sister. There's shouldn't have been any reason to keep you out. Now there isn't, I got a couple... new experiences... and the gene pool was rescued from reverting back to neanderthals."

"NO! FOUL! EXCESS USE OF BIG WORDS! It's summer vacation. No words bigger then... well, you get the idea. Ten pushups! Now, soldier!" Grimacing, Mysa paid the penalty, then laughed as she stood up.

"No wonder I keep in shape... I always have you around to blow the whistle!" They started laughing for no real reason, just from being friends for so long.

When their laughter quieted down, Mysa turned to Syrin. "Guess what happened to–" She was cut off by Hiei suddenly appearing in the door frame. She hadn't even heard him coming. He started to yell.

"What is wrong with these people! I just walked into the fucking room!" Mysa quirked an eyebrow.

"I assume that means you've met Rashu, Tya, and Jing-Quo. One platinum blonde male, one brunette female, and one black haired female, wearing overly revealing outfits?" Hiei nodded. "Did you kill them?" He shook his head. "Well, that's good." Then she turned her back on him nad continued packing. Hiei caught her wrist and spun her around.

"What is up with this place! What the fuck is wrong with all of you!" Mysa glared at him.

"Let me go." He had not really even realized what he had done, he had been to shocked by the episode downstairs. Letting go of her wrist, he backed away. Mysa began to speak again. "It's quite simple, really. My Family are all addicted to or obsessed over something. I, obviously, have a thing for swords. My older sister is obsessed with money. The three you met are addicted to sex. They're the most extreme cases of the addiction in the Family. The others with the same 'problem' are slightly more discreet. Remember Ray-Ray?" Hiei nodded. "He's obsessed with guns. But that's why there are so many rules, and why the punishments are so harsh, because there are members of the Family with illegal obsessions, like blood or drugs, robberies, you know. We stick with our blood, because one could turn against all, but all could also turn against one. We all even keep our original last name, so we can claim sanctuary here if need be. If the Akira's didn't have their own rules, society wouldn't stand a chance." He said nothing to this, and Mysa continued packing. It remained silent until she finished.

"Syrin, it'd be best if you went to the car with Hiei now. We don't want a repeat of events. I'll be right out, just have to say goodbye." Syrin nodded and went downstairs; Hiei followed, thankfully not putting up a fight. Syrin carried Mysa's bag, and the long pouch that contained all three carefully wrapped katana's. The red one was strapped around Mysa's waist. As Syrin stepped out outside the door, she muttered at Hiei,

"Something about this doesn't feel right. The last time she vouched, she had to fight for the right, as is their custom. I wonder why they let it slide?"

"What's vouching, damn it!"

"No one told you!" She asked, incredulous.

"No..." He muttered. Syrin shrugged.

"Well, you'll have to ask Mysa. It's not my obligation to tell you."

"Baka."

"Shorty."

While they were fighting verbally outside, Mysa was saying her goodbyes to everyone not in the dining room, even her father. He smiled at her and said,

"Seems like a good guy... give 'em hell, make me proud, and honor you mother's memory." She nodded stiffly (her dad had no right to mention her mother) at her dad, gather up her cookbook in the kitchen, then placed all the goodbye gifts given her outside the door to the dining room. Taking a deep breath, she placed her hand on the knob, turned it, and walked through.

The tables had been moved to the walls, where the spectators sat, silently. Only one person besides Mysa remained standing on the open floor.

Akira Tashio. Her big brother. The guy who taught her all she knew.

Paid assassin.

Mysa stood there, sword sheathed, and awaited the formal challenge.

"Akira Mysa, you stand accused of bringing an outsider here, to the stronghold, in the Family's midst. Do you deny?"

"I do not."

"Are you aware of the laws and punishments surrounding this crime?"

"I am."

"Do you wish to battle for your right?" Mysa barely considered.

"Yes. Under the laws of the Family, I challenge for my right."

"Your challenge is accepted. Your weapon?" She patted her katana.

"My sword, decorated with my own symbol." (That's the character on the pommel, looks a bit like a waterfall, and three gulls, with a tree hanging over the waterfall) "My skill, my honor, my steel. I claim my weapon." Her brother repeated this almost word for word, patting his own sword. It was a serrated battle sword, that could break her katana in half if she wasn't careful.

The formal challenge over, they got down to business, closing the gap between them, though neither drew their sword. They stopped when there was about ten paces between them. You could have heard a feather drop. A slight spark went through the air, as the combatants subtly changed their stances. The audience held their breath.

The battle began.

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After a while Hiei and Syrin stopped fighting. Syrin was too worried about Mysa to concentrate, and Hiei didn't want to fight with an unworthy opponent.

"What's taking her so long? Goodbyes shouldn't be this lengthy." He muttered. Syrin did not respond. She had a fairly good idea about what was going on inside.

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Mysa unsheathed her sword in a burst of speed and rushed her brother. He waited for her, sword still shut. Recognizing his stance, yet unable to stop, Mysa tried to dodge. She almost made it, but her brother moved swiftly, pulling out his blade, spinning and attacking all in one motion, the serrated edge catching her across the shoulders, just missing her neck. However, because she was still moving, it only struck a glancing blow. Hitting the floor face down, she quickly jumped up, katana at the ready. Her brother was just standing there like nothing had happened, blade resheathed, same stance.

This time Mysa circled him warily. He turned with her, never presenting his back. Then he ran at her, silently (It's so stupid to yell out your moves. Damn that annoys me). Ducking, she brought her sword up sharply to strike his arms, but he danced out of harms way. Now the score was even, though. Mysa had struck and drawn blood.

Finally they put the game to rest, and each attacked head on. Blades ringing, the met and parried, performing various arduous moves, with really long names, neither gaining the upper hand. Until Tashio pulled a fake, going for her head, almost hitting it, then striking lightening fast with his foot to bring his sister down. She fell face first, then as Tashio was going to strike the finishing blow, his blade was deflected at the last moment by hers, though she had to twist around painfully to do so. The force of the blow sent her skidding across the room, crashing against a wall, her katana flying out of her hands. The serrated blade still managed to catch the flesh on the back of her left arm, tearing into it, making it bleed profusely, though Mysa refused to cry out, no matter the pain.

Her brother crossed the room to where she lay, propped against the wall slightly. Putting the tip of his blade to her throat, he did not look triumphant, but very sad.

"Yield, sister. Please." Mysa's choices were: yield or die. Either way the whole household would converge on Hiei, and he would be killed. Mysa started her brother full in the face, and stretched out her neck. Her brother was startled. This was not the Mysa he knew. Yes, she would rather die then yield, and he had started this fully prepared to kill his own blood. Still, she should either be still trying to fight him, or daring him to do it. She was doing neither, just staring at him, waiting. This is when Tashio goofed up. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see himself end his sister's life.

Mysa snatched the part of the blade nearest her throat and pushed upward. The pommel smacked into Tashio's chin, and she kicked him in the side with a sweep of her foot. The combination caused him to fall, and Mysa pinned him to the floor, the hilt of his sword in one hand, the other still holding the tip, pressing the edge against her brother's neck. Blood started to trickle from where she was pressing, but she did not let up.

Tashio did not yield when she asked him. Mysa leaned close, looking like she was going to kiss him goodbye, but instead she slammed her head against his. His head hit the wall, knocking him unconscious.

"Brother, you're such a softie, but you're like the rest. You never think outside the box." She got off him and turned to look at the gathered Family. "The battle is over, I'm the only one standing. My brother did not give up his honor. Since his life is now mine, I choose not to end it, but keep it safe. When he wakes up, tell him I said that he has to go out and have some fun, and tell him I love him." This satisfied all the rules that they could think of, so they nodded and let her leave. Gathering up her katana, she hurriedly went out, cleaning off the blood with her shirt.


	6. Finally, They Arrive At Syrin's House

_**Ch.6: Finally They Arrive At Syrin's House**_

Outside the dining room, some bandages, thread, a needle and some healing medicine awaited. Mysa grimaced. She hated this part! Gathering up the needle and thread, she stitched up all serious wounds that she could reach, and bandaged tightly her arm, which was still bleeding heavily. Tucking the needle, thread, healing cream and extra bandages into a gift bag, she gathered her things and went to her room, where she changed out of her torn and blood stained clothes, then went out to the car, ignoring the urge to limp. Smiling, she said,

"All right, all ready to go!" and tossed the rest of her stuff in the back seat with Syrin, then got in the driver's seat. Hiei looked at her suspiciously.

"You smell like blood." She rolled her eyes at him.

"Of course I do. I cut my own hand twice today, and they're making roast beef for dinner. They needed some help, that's why I was so long. So that's why I smell like blood, my own, and some cow's. That's why I changed, too, because Siten ran into me in the kitchen while he was carrying some red wine, and it got all over. Satisfied? All right, let's go!" She hit the gas, ignoring the pain that shot up her leg, and all the way to Syrin's house, she talked and laughed with Syrin as if she wasn't concerned with bleeding through the bandages before they got to their destination.

When they got to Syrin's house, Mysa grabbed her friend, and rushed her inside, leaving Hiei to find his way through the traps. Sitting Syrin on her bed, Mysa quickly pulled out the needle and thread, rolled up her shirt sleeve and peeled off the blood soaked bandage. Syrin winced.

"I knew it had been too easy. Who'd you have to fight?" She began stitching up Mysa's arm.

"Tashio. Ow! That hurts! Don't pull so hard!"

"Sorry. Just surprised. When's the funeral?"

"I didn't kill him. I merely said his life belonged to me, and since he was unconscious, he couldn't claim death instead. This way he keeps his honor and his life. No one ever thinks outside the box anymore."

"How'd you get off with only one serious injury?"

"I didn't. You're only seeing my arm. Everything else I stitched myself. Couldn't walk out to the car looking like a mummy."

"Hence the long sleeves."

"Yep." There was silence as Syrin finished stitching.

"Cooking, huh? Stupid baka, do you really expect me to believe you got that cooking?" Mysa flinched. Hiei stood at the door. He had gotten through the traps faster then she had hoped.

"Ah... turkey attacked me? A cousin slipped while carrying a knife? Bull was live when we started butchering? Stop me when you hear one you might believe." He glared at her and leaned against the doorway. Feeling unnerved by the unwavering crimson stare, Mysa looked away.

"All done." Syrin said. Mysa grabbed some new bandages and wrapped them around her arm, to make sure the wound wouldn't get infected, then rolled her sleeve back down. Taking a deep breath, she looked back at Hiei, glaring as fiercely as he was.

"What do you care about how I got it, anyway?"

"I don't." He hurried to assure her.

"Then it's none of your business, is it? What, nothing to say to that? I didn't think so." She turned away haughtily, then realized she would have to get her things out of the car. And that meant going by Hiei, because she wasn't exactly up to climbing out the window. Well, there was no hope for it. Brushing imperiously past him, she went out to her car.

Syrin rounded on Hiei.

"Don't you dare give her a hard time about lying! You're the reason she got hurt in the first place! You have no idea what she just had to do to keep you alive!" Hiei was stunned for a minute, then fired back,

"Well, it's not like I asked her to! And what do you mean! No one tried to kill me, and if they had I could have taken care of myself anyway!" Syrin threw her hands up.

"(**place choice here**), you're an idiot! There's a guest room three doors down the hall. Get out of here!" Stomping he did so. Mysa came back, pulled out the trundle bed, and placed her stuff on it. Sitting next to Syrin, she eyed the room.

"He gone?"

"Yes. Mysa, I think you should explain it to him."

"Absolutely not! As soon as this is over, and you're safe, we'll never have to see him again, and he won't ever know to come to my house if he needed sanctuary. It's just simpler to keep him in the dark."

"If you say so." They heard a bunch of voices outside, and Mysa looked out the window.

"Hey, looks like the rest of your personal guard have arrived. Come on, we have to get them through safely."

"Oh no. You're staying here. Don't think I didn't see you limping when you were carrying your stuff in here." Mysa smiled sheepishly.

"I hate to make more then one trip. I figured a little pain would be worth the price." Syrin rolled her eyes and went to greet the others. When Mysa was sure Syrin was gone, she stiffly laid down on the bed, and allowed the pain she had been holding back wash over her, stuffing her fist in her mouth to keep from making a noise. She had taken a worse beating then she thought, and took no joy in knowing her brother was at least as banged up as she was, with a bigger headache, no doubt. Even through her pain, she smiled, glad no one had called her bluff on the whole owning Tashio now thing. There was no way she could have killed her brother.

As she started to fall asleep, she felt a small amount of pride. She had beaten her master, so that must mean she was getting pretty good. 'And Hiei's still alive.' A voice whispered in her mind. She smiled at the thought. 'Yep. I don't know what he is, but I don't think he could have lived if they all turned on him. And none of my family died either.' Then she slept.

Hiei stood next to the bed. "Baka." He said, but quietly, so as not to wake her. She was in pain, that much was obvious; she was barely moving, even in sleep; but there was the faintest smile on her face. She was doing the blurring thing again. He reached out to touch her, but heard voices coming closer. Snatching away his hand, he disappeared into his room with none the wiser. There was a knock on his door, and when he opened it, Kurama was on the other side.

"We're meeting in the living room. Care to join?" Hiei followed without a word, not reacting in the slightest when they passed Syrin's room. When they entered the living room, Kuwabara was asking where Mysa was. Botan had been called to Spirit World.

"Mysa's... ah... making dinner in the kitchen."

"Shouldn't she be here too, if she is helping to protect you?" Kurama asked politely.

"I'll go get her." She left, and was back soon.

"She doesn't want the roast to burn. She said she'll be able to hear us anyway, so go ahead." Yusuke nodded.

"This should be simple enough. If you just stay in here, we can all take turns protecting you. Do you have a place for us to crash?" Syrin nodded, and they heard Mysa's voice call,

"Hey, Syrin, could you come in and help me real quick?" Syrin left again, and this time she wasn't back for a while. She was using these excuses to check up on Mysa, but Mysa was awake.

"Sorry about that. How long was I out?"

"Not long enough to heal, but long enough for the talk on stalking me to start. I told them you were cooking to give you an excuse, and used a tape recorder to fake your voice so I could check up on you, but this time you were awake. How do you feel?"

"Well, aside from being a bit chopped up, I feel fine. I really should be in there while you're talking."

"Eh. They're not doing anything new and original. Taking turns, imprisoning me in my own home, you know." Mysa got up anyway.

"I'm good. At least well enough to find out their names and then cook some dinner. I'm starved." She walked out of the room, though Syrin wanted to stop her, but didn't dare for fear of hurting her. Smiling, she walked into the living room and said,

"All right, everything looks okay in the kitchen. Since we're going to be working together for a while, I should probably know your names! I'm Mysa, by the way, and I'm sure you know Syrin."

"I'm Yusuke."

"I'm... well, you can call me Kurama."

"I'm Kuwabara, I like kittens, and I think you're really pretty." He took her hands, and caused a bolt of pain to shoot up her arm. Reflexively, she tore her good arm out of his grasp and clocked him upside the head. It made him let go, and as she thought on it, she decided that it had been the right thing to do.

"Nice meeting you." She gritted out, then swept out of the room, not limping through fierce effort. Syrin was shaking with silent laughter, and when she got a hold of herself, she said,

"Would you follow me to your rooms? Mysa will be making dinner, and you all should make yourselves at home while the roast cooks." Everyone went to their rooms but Hiei.

"She shouldn't be walking around."

"You want to tell her that?" He glared at her.

"I'm not her friend. I thought you might want to know. I'm not the one who cares." Then he went into his room. Syrin headed to hers. Mysa was already in there, and already had unpacked. This place was her second home; there wasn't much for her to add to the collection. When Syrin walked in, Mysa was polishing her red katana.

"Syrin, that guy is really creepy. But you know what? I think I should name this katana soon. I fought with it, and the one I fought with last time I named. Do you still have Sekhet(as with several ancient Egyptian deities, there are several ways of spelling the name)?" Syrin smiled.

"Of course I do." She opened a secret door and pulled out the sword. It was a deep green in color, with a silver and emerald cross guard and pommel. Water-like designs were also etched on it in silver. It looked as good as any in Mysa's room, but it wasn't nearly as sharp. It was more like Hiei's.

"I wish you would let me sharpen it." Mysa muttered.

"You won with it like this, and if it were any sharper I'd kill myself trying to use it."

"You'll get better."

"I don't care if I do. You know I'm not into swords and sword fighting like you are. I only took this one because you insisted."

"As a reminder of the day you became Family! Anyway, what did you want to ask me?"

"I hate it when you read my mind."

"My, aren't we cross today. I wasn't reading your mind; you're just easy to figure out."

"So says you. Whatever. You have to go cook a roast for dinner, before it gets too late. Besides, I'm hungry too. You can think of a name while cooking. Now, move!" Mysa laughed at her friend's bossiness and went into the kitchen, dragging Syrin behind her.

"This will go much faster with two cooks! Now, what do you have in the fridge?"

It was four when the roast started, and eight when dinner was served.

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_W.W.- sitting in dark room, only one lamp, pausing to give an annoyed explanation I just got the sixth Potter book... and I'm not doing anything else until I finish it, so leave me the fuck alone! (A reporter risked her life today to bring this message to you, 7/16/05) Get off my computer! _

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_W.W.- the real one this time, not some shitty wannabe reporter I'm not gonna explain the last A/N, except to say... ALL RIGHT! I POSTED YOUR DAMN BLURB! GET THAT FUCKING KNIFE AWAY FROM MY NECK! (7/17/05) Oh, and I finished the book._

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"Ogre, make sure to give Botan the full report when she arrives."

"Yes sir."

"This is so very odd, Ogre. Why would someone break in, and not steal anything? And why in the middle of the day! The guards posted on the object said that they saw nothing, only that the object flew off the pedestal and then dropped to the floor! I want to know what happened!"

"Yes, sir."

"Just make sure she gets it."

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Yusuke sighed and leaned back. "That was great! The best I've ever had!" He exclaimed happily. Kuwabara was still gnawing on a bone, Kurama was conversing with Syrin, and Hiei, as usual, was silent. Syrin looked up from her conversation at Yusuke's remark, and grinned.

"The roast was dry and flavorless, the sauce was sour, the rice was undercooked, and the corn was saturated with water." Mysa shrugged off Syrin's insults, saying,

"Well, what can you expect from such a small and poorly stocked kitchen?" Daintily, she patted her mouth with a napkin and stood up. "And what always follows a good meal?"

"Dessert!" Kuwabara asked eagerly.

"Nope! The cooks resting while everyone else washes dishes! Careful not to break anything, guys!" Laughing, Mysa and Syrin deserted the room. After quite a bit of protesting and pure stubbornness, the dishes got done, though eventually Syrin and Mysa were found, and dragged into the kitchen to help. When it was done, Mysa eyed the bunch doubtfully.

"I know you can use a sword, at least," she said to Hiei, "but can any of the rest of you? Even a little?" Kuwabara nodded eagerly, Kurama gave a polite nod, and Yusuke shrugged. "Well, I think you should at least carry one around, so I brought you all some." She was gone before Kuwabara could protest that he had his own, and when she returned, she had the three black katana's from before. Handing them off to the guys, she listed them off in her head. 'Well, Kurama seems like a subtle power guy... so he can have the one with the gold design. Yusuke could probably be fast if he wanted to, so he gets the blue one. The creepy idiot doesn't appear to have much skill, so he can get the silver wire one.' That settled, she continued with what she had been saying before.

"Attackers just seem to be more hesitant when you're openly carrying a weapon. And it's quite clear that someone will need to be with Syrin all the time. Thankfully, her parents are out of town for the next couple of weeks, so they don't have to be informed about any of this. I'll take watch on Syrin all night, but that leaves the entire day to split between you guys, because I'll be sleeping then, so you all can figure out those shifts. Also, from now on, the electrical traps will be switched on. Only half on during the day, when you all are up and about, but fully on at night, which means I hope you all have really good eye sight or bladders of steel. That's because once the power is fully on, there's no way to walk through the house without dying, not even for a flea. Luckily, there's a bathroom in your rooms, and a very faint stripe of lighter carpet leading to it. If you stray off the path, it sends a bunch of electric jolts up your spine, and paralyzes you." At their incredulous looks, Mysa shrugged and said, "Syrin likes her traps. The only reason I know anything about them at all is because she talks about them a lot." She shot a glance at her friend, and Syrin quickly said,

"Hey, why are we just listening? Follow me, and I can show you what they do." They followed her, except for Mysa, with Kurama in the lead, quite fascinated by the traps. When Mysa saw them leave, she unclenched her jaw and sank down into a chair at the table, sighed heavily, then shut her eyes, trying not to move.

Apparently they hadn't all left.

"You're bleeding through on your leg." Mysa jumped, but only a little; she didn't have energy enough for more. Hiei sat across the table from her. Then she smiled slightly, and opened her eyes.

"Nothing gets past you, huh?" She joked. Hiei just sat there. The dream from this morning, a dream she had almost forgotten, pushed slightly on her conscience, and the fleeting thought that he might attack her fluttered through her brain. Her smile faded as she continued to look at him. Very serious, she turned to give him her full attention.

"I apologize. For Syrin, and her behavior earlier. It was extremely rude of her, and I'm sorry if it offended you. I hope you don't hold it against her. She didn't mean to insult you, it's just with her being so tall, everyone looks very young to her." Mysa grimaced. "When she had the barest centimeter on me, she paraded it around for forever, and that year she bought me a set of baby bibs. Gr. And now she's tall, and I'm not. Anyway, I just wanted you to know that she didn't mean to hurt your feelings." She smiled brightly. "And as to the bleeding, I might have just ripped a stitch or two, but I'll be better soon. I heal very fast." She stood up, and he followed suit. "Well, to minimize your all's work, I suppose we should retreat to our rooms now." Looking at the clock, she was shocked to see it was ten. "How did dinner take so long!"

"Kuwabara took forever to finish." Hiei said.

"Yeah. I'm not sure if I should take it as a compliment or throw up from having been forced to watch him eat." She shuddered, and Hiei bit back a laugh. He must be more tired then he thought, that was the second time today that he had almost laughed. Mysa paused at the doorway. "You coming?" She waited until he caught up with her, and for the first time Hiei noticed that she was in fact not that much taller then he was. Barely half a head. She smiled at him, and absently placed her hand on his shoulder. "Sleep well, my friend." Then she walked out into the hall, where Syrin was giving her demonstration. With a nod to her friend, Mysa disappeared into their room, and collapsed once more on the trundle bed.

Hiei didn't move from where he had been, stunned. The human was crazy, trusting so easily! They had only met that day, and already she was calling him friend. He ignored the small amount of pleasure that gave him, pushing it aside with anger. If she kept on this way she would be dead in no time.

"And this is one of my proudest works. It's the main electrical trap for the whole house, you see." She pulled out a small bag of feathers(_of course she carries a bag of feathers with her, don't you!_), and asked them to line up in the middle of the hall. "You don't want to be incinerated. And with the flip of a switch–" A zinging noise filled the air "– we have a weapon! I'll show you what it does." She took out a handful of feathers and carefully tossed them out of the middle of the hall. Sharp knives descended on the feathers, and all that remained were burned out of existence when they touched the carpet. "The only way to turn this off or to turn it on fully is in my room. I'm going to bed now, so as soon as you all get in your rooms, yell ready so I won't kill you when I turn it on. Be careful to stay in the center of the hallway until you reach your door." With a friendly smile and a polite goodnight, she entered her room and closed the door firmly behind her. Kuwabaka (Kuwabara, I mean! Well, wait, no I don't)yawned and quickly went into his room to sleep off the meal that took him a full two hours to eat. Yusuke also went into his room, Kurama left for his, and Hiei the same.

But Hiei didn't stay in his room. As the shouts rang out, Hiei quickly left through his window, and climbed the tree conveniently placed next to Syrin's window. This time, he felt Kurama approach, though he made no move to greet the fox.

"Why aren't you staying in your room, Hiei?"

"The ningen female with red and black hair–"

"Mysa." Kurama said, an undercurrent of amusement in his voice over his friend refusing to say the woman's name.

"That one. She'll make a poor guard. I couldn't care less about the other girl, but I don't want any competition if I decide to take over this world some day."

"Now Hiei, why would you say she'd make a poor guard? She moves like a fighter, and the 'other girl', Syrin, really has managed to make some very clever traps. I'm honestly impressed with her work."

"Mysa is injured badly on her leg, her arm, and possibly other places." Kurama just looked thoughtful at the statement.

"Injured? Really. I couldn't tell. She didn't act like it, she didn't walk like it. She must be a very strong ningen to behave like that if she was as badly hurt as you say."

"Stubborn baka is what she is." Hiei said in a disgusted voice.

"Do you know how she was injured?"

"No. She won't tell me."

"Why don't you just read her mind?" Hiei couldn't explain his reluctance to do so; he didn't really know why he was so repelled by the thought. So he brushed it off.

"Hn. Like it matters. I wouldn't waste a drop of my energy on her, and finding out why some stupid human is getting hurt. Will you leave me be and stop pestering me now?" Kurama smiled at his grumpy friend and walked back into his room, leaping through his window, then joining the chorus of shouts that meant they were all ready. He even faked Hiei's voice (Syrin had explained earlier what she had done to be able to leave the room, and that she used it to spy on people sometimes, but she hadn't mentioned her friend's injury) so they would believe everyone was in bed. He was surprised how good he was at it.

"Well, that's the last of them. Your grumpy shorty just shouted."

"He's not MINE! I don't want him! Geez, Syrin; just because you have a boyfriend now you think you can and pair me up in your little head with anyone you want." 'And he's not short!' She added in her mind.

"Having a boyfriend has nothing to do with it! You know I love to play matchmaker for you!" Mysa groaned in painful remembrance.

"It took me weeks to shake off that guy! He almost started stalking me! Why the hell did you give him those forged love notes!"

"Because I enjoy your misery, duh."

"Why do I even bother with you?"

"Because you couldn't do anything without me." They looked at each other and started cracking up over the shared memory of the guy Syrin had tricked into thinking Mysa liked him. What neither had known at the time was that the guy had had a powerful crush on Mysa for years. Arrogantly, Mysa flipped her hair over her shoulder on the way to the bathroom to change into her bed clothes.

"It's not MY fault guys find me irresistible! I can't help being beautiful." Syrin was rocking with laughter as Mysa ducked into the bathroom. After she came out, Syrin waited until Mysa had gotten slowly into the trundle bed before turning the power fully on. The zing in the air because slightly louder, and it seemed to Mysa that a metallic taste invaded her mouth. Grimacing, she made a weird face that quickly changed to horror as she saw Syrin take a flying leap for her bed, over the place where she should have been walking. When her friend had safely landed on the sheets, Mysa let out an explosive breath.

"I WISH YOU WOULDN'T DO THAT! SOMEDAY YOU'RE JUST GOING TO BE THE LITTLEST BIT OFF, AND YOU'RE GOING TO KILL YOURSELF!" Syrin laughed at her friend's concern.

"Never. I perfected it. You really worry too much sometimes." Mysa sighed, and put her hands behind her head, her sword resting close by her side.

"Hey, Syrin."

"Yeah?"

"You remember Rakt'shi?"

"What about him?" She asked sullenly. A silence, then, "You're not thinking of him because of what happened to me today, are you? You don't think _he_ had anything to do with it?"

"No, or if he did, it doesn't matter. He died yesterday afternoon. The _police_ discovered his body this morning."

"Oh." Hiei heard no emotion in her voice; with a flash of anger that surprised him, he wondered who Rakt'shi was, and why Mysa's voice was so solemn sounding. "How did he die?"

"Murdered, just like I always thought he would be. They think it was a drive-by murder, just a spur of the moment one. Sis thinks, along with the rest of the family, that he was killed by a drug dealer, because he couldn't pay for his coke. I agree." There was a silence in the room.

Syrin snorted loudly in contempt. "Well, he got what he deserved, less even. Don't try pretending that you're sad, you know I won't buy it. I was there the whole time you were recovering, I know what happened." She thought a minute, then something occurred to her that made her laugh. "That's another reason you put up with me. If we ever hated each other, ALL secrets would be out. And, your Family would probably kill me. I know too much."

"Oh, shut up. You're my best friend, and there's no way we could ever hate each other. If there was, by now we wouldn't be able to stand each other. So let's get OFF this subject, and on to a more entertaining one."

"Like?"

"Your call, I picked the last one."

"Bitch, you just don't want to think."

"Yep."

"Well, then, for that, I'll just have to punish you." Syrin launched into a complete description of her new boyfriend, comparing him with every other even remotely cute guy they had seen that day, forcing Mysa to listen. Eventually, her talk wore down, as Mysa voiced frequent complaints (that Hiei silently seconded; he was getting physically ill with boredom listening to the human ramble about some boy) and their talk somehow became discussing the boys that were protecting her. Hiei gaped in horror and surprise as the girls viciously dissected each of them, breaking them down into several parts, praising and insulting each feature. He had to smirk when he heard the sound thrashing Kuwabara was given, on both his mental health and physical prowess, and was slightly discomforted when he and Kurama equaled each other.

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_W.W.- I've actually had that conversation with myself, because there was no one around as I was writing this part. I also just spent a couple minutes seeing a whole bunch of anime guys in boxers... BOXERS ROCK! I think they're a lot sexier then briefs or a Speedo. I had them all sorted for color by personality... WHAT! Anime guys are sexy in boxers! (Shrinks into self) Stop staring at me..._

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Eventually the talk in the room died down (at about one, pretty early), and Hiei dared to move to the end of the branch and even climb onto the window sill. Nothing happened. Until he tried touching the window itself. A painful shock went through his hand, not enough to stop him, but enough to warn him off. He smirked at Syrin's plan. She really thought that if someone got close enough to the house with nothing happening, they'd just try to barge right in. Of course, humans are so stupid, that may of been the case, had they been dealing with normal people. 'Demons... this might just amuse.' He tried to grasp the window and pull it open, but he was given a much fiercer shock, that actually hurt badly. It was like a spike through the brain. Jerking his hands away, he contented himself with sitting on the ledge, staring in the window.

They were both asleep; he could tell by their regular breathing (and the fact that they hadn't stopped talking until recently; that was a big giveaway). Mysa was curled up in a ball, her sword close under her cheek. Syrin was sprawled all over her bed, and had somehow come to rest with her head at the foot of the bed. Hiei saw something out of the corner of his eye, and took a closer look at the girl with the sword.

A black mist started to issue from her mouth, and envelope her. At first he thought it was something sinister, and he wrenched the window open, though it hurt a lot, and would have at least knocked out a human for a couple days, if not caused serious brain damage, and jumped through the opening, as quietly as possible. When he reached Mysa, though, he saw that the mist was not hurting her; it was healing her. As he watched, the cuts on her hand scabbed, scarred and disappeared. But still he sensed no spirit energy. Cautiously, he reached out and touched the edge of the mist. It was cold beyond belief, so cold it burned. Snatching his abused hand back, he sucked on the finger tips as he watched the mist go about it's work. A large wound on her back slowly healed up, the mist was pulled into the wound, and the healing process occurred, closing neatly, with no trace that it was ever there. (_I just remembered something. Hiei, when he jumped into the room, he landed on the edge of the trundle bed, so he wasn't shocked by the traps_)

The mist started to reach out toward him, and nimbly Hiei jumped away, forgetting for a moment about the carpet in the rooms, which instead of killing could temporarily paralyze you. He made a small noise out of shock and pain, then quickly jumped back to the window sill. Mysa moved in her sleep, and for a moment Hiei thought that he might have woken her; but no, she just turned over, and yanked the sheets. Her legs stuck out from under the covers, and Hiei saw that she had long, threadlike scars on them (_not the really stick out type, just pretty big_), though a bandage was covering most of her left leg. The mist didn't go anywhere near them, seemed to think that they didn't exist. With one last look around the room, Hiei resumed his watch from the outside, where hopefully nothing would shock him.

Once safely out of reach, Hiei took a deep breath, forced away his reluctance to try and read Mysa's mind, and plunged in. A coldness enveloped him, a burning cold like the mist that surrounded her. He knew he was in her mind, but he couldn't see anything, he was completely surrounded by the deep black. Images of a battle filled with blood flew by him, and he knew she was dreaming. 'But why can't I see the whole dream? Why can't I read her thoughts!' Pulling himself together, he drew out of her mind as quickly as he could; finally he could see, and he was no longer so cold. Looking at Mysa, the only reaction he could see was that she mumbled something and turned her face away from the window.

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_A darkness in front of you parts, and you're able to see two ghostly white figures holding swords, standing, tense, surrounded by the night, their heads cocked, listening._

_(He's trying to get in.) Their mouths don't move, but you can hear them speak._

_(Don't worry about it. I'll throw up a couple images, and he'll leave. They always do.) _

_(Okay, he's gone. Now that I'm sure he's not listening; did you get it?)_

_(Yes. But it's not enough.) _

_(What do you mean! It HAS to be enough! I want this to end.) _

_(No matter what I do, it will never be enough. WE have to do it.) _

_(We?) _

_(Us. Working together. To save her.) _

_(Can we do that?)_

_(We can try and see. Just remember; no one else can know. Now, continue with your training.) One of the figures begins to move with breathtaking speed and skill. Soon, the black night swallows them up, and they fade out of your sight, like the souls of the dead... _


	7. And Where Do You Find Nowhere?

_**7. And ...Where Do You Find Nowhere?**_

At dawn Syrin woke up, and turned off the system so that she could stumble around without getting hurt. Seeing her friend snoring on the trundle next to her, she rolled her eyes.

"Some guard you are. Sleeping on the job." With a smile, she fixed Mysa's sheets better, and the only thanks she got was a mumbled "Go 'way. You... insane... awake... early."

Kurama woke when the zing noise finally stopped, and went outside to see how Hiei was doing. He was still in the tree, but now his hands were slightly burnt looking. Making a face, Kurama said,

"So... did you learn anything new last night?" Hiei turned to look at him, looking bored.

'That women are incredibly vicious, I have a nice ass, and they think you have some gorgeous eyes. And Kuwabara is a fucking idiot who's as ugly as shit. Oh, and one sprouts out a black mist that heals her. Go figure.' "Nothing. They're normal humans. Stupid, boring..." He jumped out of the tree, and the two sprinted into the house just as the alarm was being turned on. Syrin appeared at the door. She smiled at them and said,

"Oh good, you're both awake! Well, we have two choices: 1, we can rough it and try to make breakfast on our own, or 2, we could toss Mysa out of her bed and force her to make breakfast for us! Number two isn't the best of choices, because you really shouldn't piss off your cook, and she's just starting to get to sleep, so it wouldn't be good to try to distract her right now... It's like covering yourself with meat and tossing yourself into the lions' den." She smiled again. "Then having to eat a really bad breakfast anyway! Either way we aren't going to get a good breakfast." She leaned against the doorframe. "I suppose we could go out for breakfast... There's this really cute restaurant right down the street... no, huh?" Kurama was shaking his head at her.

"Sorry, but to be safest, we have to keep you here. I'm sure I could make something edible." He smiled, and Syrin thought, '(**place choice here**), he's gorgeous AND he cooks! He's trying to make Kyo look bad!' But she just nodded and sighed.

"Fine. So, what's for breakfast, Mr. Cook?" She glanced at Hiei, who was looking at her like she deserved to die. "What's the matter with you?" Her main fault with him last night had been that he was short, and that really got on his nerves. It didn't matter that Mysa had stuck up for him, saying that he wasn't short, it was Syrin who was the frickin' statue of liberty. When Hiei said nothing, she just raised an eyebrow at him and started walking down the middle of the hall, keeping her arms close "Hm... I guess you're like Mysa... evil sonofabitch in the morning, huh?" Kurama laughed, and followed her down the hall.

When they turned the corner, Hiei quietly opened Syrin's door. Mysa was still sleeping, but the mist was long gone, not a trace of it remained. She was stirring as if she was about to wake up though, so he quickly left the room, and went down into the kitchen, where Kurama and Syrin were laughing over something. Sitting sullenly at the table, he waited for the others to come down, and to eat something.

Announced with several screeches of pain and thuds, Kuwabara finally entered the room, followed by a much more stable Yusuke. Mysa failed to appear. After choking down an edible breakfast, they wondered exactly what they were going to do with their day. This was certainly going to be boring, staying inside all day.

Hm.

Mysa finally made her grand entrance when they were all sitting in the living room, trying to decide what to watch on tv. She was brandishing her katana, and shouting joyfully at Syrin.

"SYRIN! I thought up this swords' name! I finally got one! Yay!" She noticed that there were more people then Syrin in the room. "Oh. Sorry, didn't see you other guys. Syrin can argue with herself sometimes, it's an easy mistake to make. Good morning. Hope you all slept well." Then she grinned widely at her friend. "I thought of it while I was sleeping! We're going to stay in tradition with the first one! Keeping with the Egyptian theme, I decided to call it Utchat, the All-Seeing Eye of Bast!" The guys all shot looks at Hiei, but Syrin was just happy for her friend.

"That's great, Mysa! It took you three days to come up with the last one!" Mysa stuck her tongue out.

"I know, but it was a hard decision..." She yawned hugely. "Pardon, but I didn't sleep well, and I only just got struck with the idea, and I had to tell Syrin." sniff "Is that bacon I smell? Some... ramen? Maybe some rice?" She wandered off into the kitchen.

"She's insane, right?" Yusuke asked quite calmly. Syrin glared at him.

"Of course she is! That's why she makes such a good friend! If you think that is bad, though, you should see her when she's sleep deprived and on a sugar high, or a natural high, or just been laughing too hard for too long." She laughed at a memory. "It was last year, I think, and we stayed up all night because we kept hearing things outside, okay? At about four in the morning, we pull out coloring books, crayons, and start discussing how to take over the world. The whole thing ended up with her finger's having personalities, the Moo's, Bubbles the Cloud, and Gopher. It... was pretty special..." She started really laughing then, remembering all they had talked about that night.

Mysa wondered why she got weird looks when she reentered the room, carrying a plate of food. "I don't know what it is that you guys cooked, so I just added stuff to it and... why is everyone staring at me?" She noticed Syrin laughing, and groaned. "Oh (**place choice here**), what have you told them! Was it the penguins or skateboarding?" Syrin was laughing too hard to answer. Mysa glared at her, and stomped back into the bedroom. "Fine then, be that way. I'm going to eat and go back to bed. Jerk."

Yusuke and Kuwabara were just about to get into a full-fledged brawl over the tv when the perpetual zinging noise stopped. Syrin, who had given up on tv in favor of watching the boys fight, looked toward her room anxiously and shouted,

"Mysa? Did you do that?" They heard a door open, and Mysa's head appeared from around the corner.

"Yeah, that was me. I turned it off in your room because I couldn't sleep, and decided to practice instead." She smiled, and crossly Syrin asked,

"So why'd you turn it off in here!"

"Because Botan is about to walk through the door, and she looked preoccupied, so she might have forgotten about the system. Not wanting her to get hurt and/or killed, I turned it to minimal in here, so it'll only give a warning shock and make some noise. When I hear the door shut, I'll turn it on. Let's just hope she's in a 'safe place'." She disappeared, then looked around the corner again. "Can the Grim Reaper die?" Syrin shrugged and Mysa left again.

"Guess what!" Botan sang as she shot through the door. Syrin leapt up, snatched Botan's wrist, and pulled her to the couch, letting the door shut itself. Immediately, the zinging noise started again.

"Everyone still alive!" Mysa yelled.

"Not for long! Why are you practicing when you are... SHOULD be sleeping!" Dropping Botan's wrist, Syrin marched back towards her room. Botan blinked and looked at the guys; looking as if nothing had happened, Kurama asked,

"What?"

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Syrin snapped open the door and glared at Mysa, who was shifting through her CDs, trying to decide which one to listen to while she practiced.

"Whatever is the matter?" Mysa asked with an innocent smile.

"Your absolute idiocy is the matter. You know you shouldn't be training when you're wounded." Mysa lost her smile and rolled her eyes.

"Yes, mother, I know, but that doesn't change anything. You know how well I heal, and if I get hurt while fighting, do you think they're going to just stop and let me sit out for a bit to stop bleeding! Not only would they not do that, but it's a lot harder when I'm awake. Besides, I only have the stitched ones left, and they're not that bad at all. Can I ask you to help me to take out the stitches on my arm? I already took out all the rest." Syrin softened.

"I'll help, if I think it's healed enough." Mysa peeled off the bandages, and Syrin took out the stitches as gently as she could.

"This would go faster if you weren't so careful."

"Sorry, but I'm your mother, remember? I care."

"You're useless. And you're not my mom."

"Thank (**place choice here**). I think I would... I'm sorry, Mysa. I forgot for a moment."

"It's alright, you know I don't really care anymore."

"I know that's bullshit."

"Good, your lawn could use some fertilizer."

"All finished. Oh, and if I could make a suggestion, listen to your theme song." Syrin left, making sure that Mysa didn't see the smile. Ah, yes, ideas rise to the surface...

Mysa smiled at her friend's suggestion and grumpiness. She was as protective as hell sometimes, it was just as funny as it was creepy. Moving back over to her CDs, she put the correct one in the player, and began the opening exercises.

(_Disclaimer: I do not own 'Scars', and it isn't legal to own people, so I don't own Papa Roach either_)

**Scars**, by _Papa Roach_

I tear my heart open, I sew myself shut.

And my weakness is that I care too much.

And my scars remind me that the past is real.

I tear my heart open just to feel.

I'm drunk and I'm feeling down

And I just wanna be alone

I'm pissed 'cuz you came around

Why don't you just go home?

'Cuz you channeled all your pain

You're making me insane

All I can say is...

I tear my heart open, I sew myself shut.

And my weakness is that I care too much.

And our scars remind us that the past is real.

I tear myself open just to feel.

I tried to help you once

Against my own advice

I saw you going down

But you never realized

That you're drowning in the water

So I offered you my hand

Compassion's in my nature

Tonight is our last stand

I tear my heart open, I sew myself shut.

And my weakness is that I care too much.

And our scars remind us that the past is real.

I tear myself open, just to feel.

I'm drunk and I'm feeling down

And I just wanna be alone

You should've never come around

Why don't you just go home?

'Cuz you're drowning in the water

And I tried to grab your hand

I left my heart open

But you didn't understand

But you didn't understand

Go fix yourself

I can't help you fix yourself

But at least I can say I tried

I'm sorry but I gotta move on with my own life

I can't help you fix yourself

But at least I can say I tried

I'm sorry but I gotta move on with my own life

I tear my heart open, I sew myself shut.

And my weakness is that I care too much.

And our scars remind us that the past is real.

I tear myself open just to feel.

I tear my heart open, I sew myself shut.

And my weakness is, that I care too much.

And our scars remind us that the past is real.

I tear myself open just to feel.

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"I'm back!" Syrin said as she entered the living room again.

"Does that mean I can start explaining now!" Botan said impatiently. Syrin looked at her blankly.

"Explain what?"

"Why I'm here!"

"Oh. Sure, I guess. So, why are you here, Botan?"

"I'm here because another robbery took place last night, at around eleven. This one was different from the one in the amusement park, though. The one at Dragon Fire was an obvious one, a total screw up on our part, because we totally forgot about it, what with all the recent chaos. Anyway, the one that was stolen last night had an attempted theft on it earlier, so we beefed up security. But still, somehow it got stolen. In a really weird way. It was there, then it was gone. That's what the guards say."

"What WAS it!" Hiei asked, irritated.

"The thing that got stolen?" Hiei: --U

"Duh, baka. What else? Have you no brain at all? Or is it all just hair?" Syrin restrained Botan, and calmed her down enough to continue with the story.

"IT was a spear. And it had almost been stolen earlier, or at least that's what we think. It lifted off the pedestal, but then just dropped on the floor. This time, it vanished completely."

"Let me guess: this spear has unimaginable powers?" Yusuke asked, rolling his eyes.

"Actually, no. It has a very small power, yet is plays a big role in the resurrection of... anything. We're assuming it was the work of Jang-Kombe's followers, but..."

"...But..." Syrin coaxed.

"But we're not sure because there's nothing to say so. There's no clue at all." They all fell.

"...so what do you want us to do about it?" Yusuke asked.

"Um... Ah... Instead of going after the henchmen, we need someone to... find the most important object for the resurrection."

"What do you mean, FIND it?" Hiei asked.

"Well... we kinda don't know where it is. Exactly." Everyone fell again, Kuwabaka singeing off some of his hair in the process. "We know it's in Lost... but we don't know where Lost is... or how to get there."

"You're kidding. There's actually a place called Lost?" Syrin said.

"It's a whole world. But since it's Lost, we can't find it. There's no stable portal to the world, because as soon as you find the portal, it disappears, because how can a portal to a lost place be found? Kinda confusing, I know. Anything, anywhere, and anyone can be taken to Lost, but the only portal we can think of is only sometimes there. The Bermuda Triangle doesn't always work."

"How would we get there, anyway? That's quite the distance to travel." Kurama stated.

"Um. I don't know."

"Do you even know what the 'object' is?" Syrin asked.

"A sword. Meant, though I don't really feel comfortable saying this, to take your life, Syrin. We need to find it before they do. Does anyone volunteer?"

To everyone's amazement, Hiei stood.

"I'll go."

"WHAT! I mean, what? You can't go. You already have an assignment."

"Someone else can take over it. Finding this sword is more important." he said. A gleam entered Syrin's eye.

"Well, if you're going to be going, why don't you go train with Mysa until you get a lead? She's practicing right now, as a matter of fact." When Hiei said nothing, Syrin taunted, "What? Are you so bad with that sword that you're afraid that Mysa is gonna show you up? Huh, how sad. I'll have to tell her that you aren't the hot shot she thought you were." Hiei glared at her.

"I am not afraid of such a simple human, or what she thinks of me, you damn baka. How stupid of you to even think so. But what can I expect of a simple ningen? Nothing, I suppose. Tell me, does it ever get boring, being so stupid? Or do you find comfort in knowing that you're not alone, by spending time with these idiots?" He waved a hand at Yusuke and Kuwabara, who growled but did nothing more. Syrin just continued to smirk at him, until Hiei turned away and walked down the hall. Botan looked over at Syrin, mystified. Didn't she know that as soon as Hiei started sparring with Mysa, he could probably kill her? The human woman was just smiling broadly.

"I tear my heart open, I sew myself shut. And my weakness is, that I care too much! Hey, what are YOU doing in here!" Mysa stopped singing when Hiei entered the room. He said nothing, just stood there, glaring at her, as if everything was her fault. "Um. Yeah, that's real scary and all, but it doesn't go far towards answering my question, now does it?"

"What's up with the scars?" Mysa was baffled, then looked down. She had put on shorts to practice.

"Eh. That's a story you don't have permission to hear. And you never will." Her face was burning. She hadn't thought someone would interrupt her training, so she hadn't given a thought to her scars. All the scars on her legs and shoulders were showing. Added to that, she had been dancing when he had come in, not practicing, not paying any attention to the door at all. If he had had evil intentions, she would most likely be dead by now. "Shit. Well, besides embarrassing me, do you have a reason to be in here?" She sheathed her sword (that she had been dancing with) and glared right back at him.

"I have to train."

"That's not fair. Can't you train later? I'm using this room right now, and it's the best one because of all the little traps that you can't turn off." She pouted at him, but he didn't move. "Fine then. Be an ass. I'm just gonna ignore you." She turned her music way up, and began to train some more. A breath later, she was fighting for her life because Hiei had attacked her without warning. "ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY! WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA!" She screamed at him, then narrowly dodged his sword.

"What you were doing is not training. THIS is training." Hiei said, then took a sucker swipe at her head; she barely got her sword up in time to block it.

"What was that! Don't you have honor!"

"Honor, in a fight? That's just stupid, and will get you killed." A gleam entered her eye.

"Well, if that's the way you want it." Hiei had just been toying with her, but now she stepped up the fight to where he actually had to exert himself a little to keep from getting hit.

He would never admit it, but he was impressed with the human. She could fight well.

Mysa was enjoying the battle. She was enjoying it as much as she enjoyed driving fast, and a hell of a lot more then she enjoyed fighting her brother. She couldn't push this much when she had been fighting with her brother. He would have been killed. When she saw that he could keep up, she decided to push it a little bit more.

"I've been practicing this in private. Shush, and don't tell anyone, k?" The black mist he had encountered the night before started creeping up the blade, coming out of her hand. But it took too much. She couldn't keep up with the speed of the battle; Hiei soon had her disarmed, and once again Mysa was staring down the length of a blade. She didn't even look at him.

"Shit. I need to practice that more. I can't believe I don't have it down yet." Ignoring the sword tip at her neck, she reached for her katana and began to inspect it closely. "Still no effects, that's good at least. I was afraid it would have some effect on my sword. It would suck big balls if it was weakened." She rang her fingernails against it, near the base, where the mist had touched it. It sounded out a pure ringing tone, and she smiled at it. "Yep. Still good." Hiei pressed his sword against her throat, which made her look up. "Oh, yeah, our fight. Well, I lost, you gonna kill me?"

"Now why would I waste the energy on you?"

"You wouldn't. So would you let up?" Grudgingly, he removed his sword, and Mysa stood. She looked at him closely. "Well, if you're not human, what are you?" Hiei said nothing, then,

"You're extremely blunt."

"Tact takes too much time. Bluntness gets better results most of the time. The rest of the time... it gets you killed, or at the very least attacked. So, what are you?"

"You don't have permission to know."

"Really. Fascinating. Well, whatever, it's your right. Why are you training? You're really good." She was inspecting her sword again, and trying to extend the black mist further down the blade. Botan opened the door, drawing Mysa's attention, making her quickly retract the mist. "Botan! Nice to see you! What's the news?" Botan looked at her suspiciously.

"How did you know that I had news?" Mysa looked innocently at her.

"Because I heard little bits and pieces of what was going on over there. How else? You think I would just hide out in here without trying to find out what was making you so mad? Something got stolen, right?" Syrin popped into the doorway, right behind Botan.

"Yep, a something. Someone stole a spear, and they don't know how they did it, but they figure if someone is powerful enough to steal it without a trace, then surely they are powerful enough to find a way to a place that doesn't exist to find something that is real." Mysa looked blankly at her.

"Um. Yeah, sure. Whatever. So what's the plan for that?"

"Hiei's going to find the thing."

"Ah so! That's the reason for the impromptu training. What's the object?"

"What's with your legs!" Yusuke appeared in the door behind Syrin, and soon all the rest piled in behind him.

"What are those!" Kuwabara asked. Mysa threw up her hands in anger and embarrassment, then sheathed her sword with a click that sounded like a shot.

"Damn! That's why I don't wear shorts anymore! I mean, it's one thing when little kids stare, but people your age? What's wrong with you! They are scars, okay! And no, before you ask, I'm not going to tell you about them! Stupid bakas..." She snatched up a pair of jeans and a t-shirt from her little mini-closet, and walked through a hidden door, up some stairs. Syrin winced.

"I... wouldn't sleep soundly for the next few nights if I were you people." She said, then followed her friend upstairs. Botan was right behind her.

At the top of the steps there was a large room, covered with wire, sharp things, and vials of acid and deadly looking liquids. This was the entrance/storage room for Syrin's workshop. A door a little off to the left was shut, Mysa inside, cursing as she got dressed. The room was the workshop itself: no windows, and no traps. Syrin wasn't stupid; she wasn't going to have flaming arrows pelted at her head while she was holding two highly combustible chemicals, but she wasn't going to make it easy for people to enter the shop either. The door had voice command, retina scanning, DNA tracing and fingerprint matching saved into the little box sitting next to it, and to enter the room, you had to supply the right ones of each.

Of course Mysa was able to get in. The door was programmed to only let her and Syrin in, but only one at a time, so neither got hurt by a sudden door to the face and a following explosion. Mysa exited the little room still cursing, though dressed now in a pair of black jeans with chains and straps, and a black t-shirt with a screaming, crying 'smiley' face. Underneath the 'smiley' face, it said, "Happy Days..." (Music note)

"So, Botan," Mysa said lightly, as if she wasn't planning revenge, "you were saying?" Botan blinked.

"What was I saying?"

"I dunno. Were you talking about fanged lamps? Giant mutant towels? Flying killer teddy bears with machine guns? Non-existent places?"

"That one! The last one! It does exist, though; we just can't find it."

"Yeah. Right. Now that that's all cleared up, what were you saying?"

"Last night, at around 11, we had a spear stolen from a heavily guarded vault. The spear had a big role in the resurrection of Jang-Kombe, but it can be replaced, or totally ignored if they really have enough power. There is only one item that is absolutely necessary to bring him back."

"Please don't tell me that it's in the place you can't find."

"Uh... it is, unfortunately. But Hiei has volunteered to go find it."

"Why'd he do that? He doesn't seem like a volunteer type of guy."

"He isn't. I have no clue why he volunteered to go," But Botan had thought of a way around her dilemma. Since Hiei was the only one who could see this shadow, and Hiei was leaving... "but I want you to go too, Mysa."

"WHAT! I CAN'T DO THAT! I HAVE TO PROTECT SYRIN!"

"Yeah, and a you've been doing a fine job too, from what I hear." While Syrin had been taking out the last of Mysa's stitches, Kurama, Yusuke and Kuwabaka had filled Botan in about the electronic traps. Though Botan knew that they existed, she had in fact forgotten about them, and was soon told that Mysa had turned it off in a couple rooms. "Leaving the main entrance wide open... what if I had been someone who only looked like me! What then!"

"That's why you assigned those bozos downstairs to guard her, right! They're all good at fighting! Though I can't believe that Kuwa-whatever guy is good at anything..."

"You doubt them, but you trust them with Syrin's life!" Mysa blanched, and lowered her gaze.

"I... I suppose you're right. I'm not a very good guard at all. I just put my friend at risk."

"But you're my best friend. And you're a fine guard, just a bit absent minded." Syrin tried to cheer her friend up. Raising her head, Mysa gave her a weak smile, then turned to Botan, face set.

"All right, I'll look for it too. If I stay, I'm just endangering Syrin's life. So, tell me what I'm looking for, and what's the place it's in called."

"Not yet; I'm going to save some time and brief both you and Hiei together." Botan said, and Syrin started to walk away. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going to get Hiei, help the shorty get up the stairs without keeling over." As Syrin slowly picked her way down the steps, Botan and Mysa stood directly across from each other, locked in a frosty silence.

"Hiei, you're wanted up top. Follow me closely, now." It took a while to get up stairs, but eventually they did. Botan and Mysa were speaking again.

"You know, Botan, it's days like today that make me wish I had never met you."

"Hey, all mortals meet me at one point or another; it's not my fault that–"

"A-**HEM**." Syrin cleared her throat loudly as her head appeared at the top of the stairs. "I found him." She moved aside and motioned Hiei to continue upwards. With a contemptuous expression (if she hadn't insisted on him following her, he could have made it up the stairs a lot faster, and might have heard more of the conversation) he did so. Syrin went back downstairs into her room. Once there, she began to explain her traps to Kurama, and, bored, Yusuke and Kuwabaka went back into the living room, back into their brawl over the tv.

"So, what do you want?" Hiei growled.

"Mysa has agreed to go with you on your search for Lost."

"What!"

"Yeah, it's not like I'm thrilled to death, myself." Mysa looked very pissed, but soon it passed, and her face became carefully blank. "By the way, Botan, I wanted to give you this." She started to search through her pant pockets for the Reaper knife (that I really own, got it for six bucks! Gotta love the Gun and Knife Show), pulling out everything else in her way. What was in her way? Knives, of course. Soon she had a huge pile of knives in front of her, from where she had taken them out of her pants. "Ah-ha! Here it is!" She handed over the Reaper knife to Botan, who took it kind of dazedly.

"How did you fit all those into your pants?" She asked.

"Huh? Oh, my knives..." Mysa waved her hands around voodoo-ishly, and said in a creepy voice, "It is not for you to know the secrets of the Pants..." Then dropped her hands back to her side, and started to nudge at all the knives with her foot. Hiei glared at her.

"Why the hell are YOU coming? I can do this much faster without a ningen, Botan. I don't want this baka hanging around my neck like a lead weight." Mysa's eyes flashed with anger.

"Hey, I already said I didn't want to come. I'm doing it because I'm a danger to Syrin's health, though it's not like no one knew that already... and I'm not a lead weight, I'll probably figure it all out before you do."

"Figure WHAT out!"

"How to find a place that is lost and can't be found. I was always really good at hide and seek."

"THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS! SEE, I TOLD YOU SHE'D BE USELESS, BOTAN!"

Syrin winced from her room. "Sounds like they're getting along great..." She muttered to Kurama, who laughed.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW! MAYBE IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH IT! WE HAVE NO CLUES, THIS PLACE COULD BE ANYWHERE!"

"And have anywhere inside it." Botan interrupted, though I don't really know why. "Can we get back to the subject at hand?" Ah.

"We never had a 'subject at hand', because small fry here had to start screaming!"

"I AM NOT SHORT!"

"BUT YOU ARE SCREAMING!"

"SO ARE YOU!"

"Will you two shut up! You're both going on this mission, and nothing is gonna change that, so get used to it, shut your faces, and listen to me! Now, Hiei already knows this, but the object you're looking for is a sword, Mysa." Mysa's eyes shone.

"Is it a PRETTY sword? How well crafted is it? Was it done independently? Or was it machine manufactured? Is it–"

"I told you already to shut up! I don't know what the sword looks like, or who made it, or how! I don't care, and neither should you! This sword was made for the sole purpose of killing your friend!" The light in her eyes died.

"Oh. Never mind then." She started to put away her knives without thinking about it. Botan still couldn't see how all those knives could fit into her pockets without bulging, or at least clinking. Shaking her head, the Grim Reaper continued,

"Anyway, you two have to find Lost, and that's practically impossible, not to mention an oxymoron. We don't know who or what is inside it, because lost people can be in Lost as well as places and things. Some follower or another of Jang-Kombe's might have already found his way into Lost, and found the sword. If that's the case, you'll have to kill him." Mysa looked thoughtful.

"So, you want us to go to a place that doesn't exist, to find a thing that definitely exists, and kill anyone that gets in our way, whether they exist or not?" Mysa nodded to herself. "Sounds doable. When do we start?"

"Right now. The sooner the better." Botan answered her, and the human girl went off a little ways to the right, to look at a couple of sharp things while she thought on it.

"What the hell are you doing? We should be looking for this place, not just standing around!" Hiei said. Mysa rolled her eyes at him.

"I'm thinking how to find this place. Though Botan didn't mention it this time, I heard her telling you all about how the only place that is even a sometimes portal to Lost is the Bermuda Triangle. But that can't be the ONLY way to get to this place, if things, places, and people appear there all the time. Well, supposedly appear there all the time... There has to be another way..." Botan wasn't paying any attention to them, she was looking at the Reaper knife and laughing silently. Mysa scratched her chin. "If anywhere can appear in Lost, then why can't Lost appear anywhere? Like, say, we're lost right now, because neither of us knows our exact coordination on the map. Just say. If that's the truth, then, why doesn't a portal to Lost appear right underneath our feet!" Botan looked over just in time to Mysa and Hiei disappear through the floor.

"WHAT THE HELL!" She shouted. Her oar turned into a scythe and she started to hack away at the floor.

Syrin looked up, startled, when a piece of plaster fell on her head, and she saw Botan's face looking down at her through a hole in the ceiling. Slowly picking the plaster out of her hair, Syrin said,

"I'm thinking Mysa has something to do with this, right?" Botan nodded. "How did it end up with you punching a hole through my ceiling?"

"Uh... she and Hiei disappeared... through the floor." Syrin nodded as if this was perfectly normal.

"I see. Anyway, Kurama, as I was saying, this trap right here shoots poison gas out when someone sniffs this flower..." Kurama was confused. Though Botan had said that Hiei had disappeared through the floor with Mysa, he could still sense Hiei's energy on the floor above him, yet it was greatly weakened. This both confused and worried him.

"Are you sure they're both gone?" He called up to Botan.

"Yeah... I think so... I see what you mean..." Her head disappeared from the hole in the ceiling, and she came down the stairs. "If he's still there, he's invisible. I can't see him, anyways."


	8. I Never Knew Lost Was Such A Nice Place

_**8: I Never Knew Lost Was Such A Nice Place**_

Mysa felt wind whistling through her ears, as if she was moving really fast, but if she was, she couldn't tell. It was all black around her, and she had no sense of where she was, though she assumed she was falling, because she could feel nothing under her feet. For a moment, she wondered where Hiei was, but gave up and just enjoyed the feeling of plummeting. After all, it is an enjoyable feeling, otherwise we wouldn't have rides that are made just to make you fall from great heights. I love those rides... anyway:

Hiei was bewildered. 'Hasn't this... already happened!' The edges of the dream pushed on his conscious, but he didn't really pay attention. Back in the room, he had been listening to Mysa, but had only half believed what she was saying. Now he was falling, and he didn't know what was going on, only that he was in a lot of pain, as if he had just been cleaved in half.

Together they landed on a soft surface: a giant mound of clothes. Mysa shrieked and slid off the pile, her shriek of surprise becoming one of joy. "Whee!" With a thud, she landed feet first on the ground, only to be knocked over by Hiei, who had followed accidentally. The clothes under him had given way after Mysa had slid by. Roughly pushing him off, the human quickly got to her feet, and stared at the landscape.

"I never knew Lost was such a nice place. No wonder..." She ended her sentence abruptly, startled by a thought that occurred to her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hiei's spiky hair, and she turned to look at him.

And just as quickly turned away, her face on fire. "Uh... Hiei... Do you think it's a bit breezy here!" She squeaked out.

Hiei was still in a huge amount of pain, and was greatly irritated at Mysa for asking such a stupid question. "What the hell do you mean!" The sensation of being cut in half was so strong that Hiei looked down. "WHAT THE FUCK!" He shouted, and jumped into the nearby pile of clothes, only his head sticking out for air. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON, BAKA!" Mysa glared in his general direction.

"How would I know! Are you saying that your being naked is my fault!" Reaching blindly around her feet, she grabbed the first thing she touched and threw it his way. "Have some decency and put some clothes on!" She walked in the opposite direction, giving him privacy.

Unfortunately for Hiei, the only thing that fit him was a small girl's kimono that was bright pink and neon green in color. (_A/N: Oh, man, my ribs hurt... I can just see him dressed like that! Shit! He's attacking! Run! There's a tiny pink and green man attacking me!_) Because the writer is mean to him, she made this so.

"Hey, you dressed yet! We have a sword to find, if you don't remember!" Mysa shouted from a small distance away. His face burning with embarrassment, he climbed out of the pile, as Mysa walked back into the clearing. "I said, are you dre... Oh my (**place choice here**)! What the hell are you wearing! It's hideous! No wonder someone lost it! Argh! It offends my artist sensibilities! You're like a moving eyesore!"

"SHUT UP ALREADY!" A vein popped in Hiei's forehead. Mysa had a hand up in front of her eyes to protect them.

"Well, you look horrible! Isn't there anything else you could wear! ANYTHING!"

"NO! THE WRITER IS EVIL!" Mysa blinked at him behind her hand.

"What are you talking about? What writer?" Hiei blinked as well.

"Um. I don't know. But this is the only thing that fit!" The pain in his head felt like it was becoming worse. Wearily, he asked, "Where are we?"

"We're in Lost, of course. This most certainly isn't Syrin's place, and I don't know anywhere else that would have giant piles of clothes in it, so it makes sense that we are now lost, and no one on earth knows where we are. That's how we got here. No one was thinking of us at the time we disappeared. Very dramatic entrance, it has. I knew we would get here."

"How did we get here?"

"We got lost. I knew we were lost, and you must have believed what I was saying too, because you're here. Though, you look kinda green... are you okay?" He snarled at her concern.

"I'm **FINE**." And slowly, as her words sank in, he started to fully believe that they were indeed lost, and the pain began to subside. As Mysa stood off to the side, thinking, Hiei's pain fully dissipated, as did Kurama's and Botan's lingering feeling that he was still in the house. Mysa came to life.

"Alright. We're here. So now what? We start looking for the sword, right? But where do we begin?" As she started to search the clearing, (the pile of clothes was surrounded by woods, okay?) a large clap of thunder sounded over head. Mysa's head jerked up. "Hey! That was impressive! I didn't know it could storm here! Hm... I wonder where I could find an umbrella..." She started to sift through the pile of clothes.

"Why would an umbrella be in there?" Hiei scoffed. Mysa shrugged.

"Because it wasn't in the bushes." An umbrella was thrown at her back, and she whipped around just in time to catch it. "What the heck! Why'd you throw this umbrella at me, Hiei!" The fire demon glared at her.

"I didn't do it. If I had, you wouldn't of had time to turn around and keep it from hitting you." Mysa's eye twitched, but she opened the umbrella and put it over her head.

"Yeah, right. Well, for being both a liar and a jerk, you can just stand out in the rain!"

Hiei: --x "I AM NOT A LIAR!"

"But you're a jerk! Okay, whatever you say!" Something bounced off her umbrella, and she smiled evilly at Hiei. "It's started raining."

But the rain never came down.

Instead, what did come down was a shower of lost socks and mittens.

"What's with this place?" Mysa wondered out loud, as she put away the umbrella, and started to climb a tree.

"Where are YOU going?" Hiei asked her. Untangling one of her straps from a tree branch, she answered,

"I'm going to get a look at the sky, to see if this storm will be a quicky. And, maybe, there will be this big sign saying, 'THIS WAY TO MAGICAL KILLER SWORD!' Maybe." She chuckled as she got the strap loose and continued making her way slowly up the tree. Suddenly, she was snatched up, and pulled through the branches to the top. "WHAT THE" was all she had time to say; then she was at the top, clutching to the swaying peak of the tree. Hiei was perched next to her, smirking. "WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT, YOU JACKASS!" She asked, still panicked.

"You were going too slow." Suddenly, his sword ripped through the kimono, and it fell to pieces around him. He had his own clothes on underneath it. Picking up the shreds, he hurled them with force toward the pile. Soon another pair of hands joined him.

"(**Place choice here**), that thing was ugly!" Mysa was clinging to the thin bit of trunk with her legs, and throwing the disgusting pink and green thing down. When that was done, she re-wrapped her arms around the trunk, and glared at Hiei. "Getting rid of that thing was worth risking my life." She shuddered dramatically. "As an artist, it should be my right to kill whoever made that thing, but I can't. At least not today. Today, I'm lost, stuck up high in a tree with a psycho in the middle of a storm of socks and mittens. Perhaps tomorrow I shall be swimming in the stars with a bunch of rabid couches, who all want to eat my ears so that they can become mice. Well, one can hope..." A sock bounced off her head, and she caught it in her hand automatically. "Hey, this sock belongs to me! I lost it three months ago in the dryer at Syrin's house! Hm... I have an idea...I **_know_** that this sock, and only this sock, is at my house, in the third drawer down in the dresser in my spare room, right next to the purple sock pair on the left side." The sock in her hand disappeared. "HOLY SHIT! LOOK AT THAT! IT'S GONE!" Mysa couldn't believe it. It worked! She tried something less specific, and grabbed a mitten. "I know this is at my house." It disappeared as well. And, though she wasn't thinking about the sock anymore, it didn't come back. "This place... is weird." Now that she wasn't busy being scared, annoyed, curious, or hateful, she took sometime to look around.

"Oh my... Hiei, look. It's so... beautiful." She had big googly eyes, as she looked over the treetops. The sun was just setting (_don't ask me how it got to be so late_), and the clouds looked as if they were melting into the horizon. It was gorgeous. (_I absolutely love the sky. I think it's best when it has clouds though, not when it's just bare. And my favorite time to watch the sky is at sunset, when it's the most colorful... sunrise is okay, but the colors are a bit too pale for me to consider that time of day my favorite time to sky gaze_)

The sun was a glorious orange yellow, with a thin tendril of gray cloud stretching across it's middle. Vibrant, rich tones of red and orange colored what sky could be seen, and dyed a few of the lighter clouds a warm pale pink-peach color. The setting sun made it look at if the rim of the world was on fire. The forest stretched into the horizon, and far off to their left they saw the dim sparkle of water. Mysa supposed it was an ocean. The trees of the forest stood out in stark detail against the sky, every branch and leaf not consumed in the 'fire' was independent and could be seen clearly.

"Hn." Was all Hiei said. Mysa didn't even roll her eyes at him; she was totally entranced by the sky.

"I wish I had my paints and some paper." She whispered in an awed voice. Hiei sneered.

"Are you so feeble minded that you have already forgotten why we are here?" He asked her in a disgusted voice that finally snapped her out of her reverie. "We are supposed to be looking for a sword; I thought you wanted to save your friend." Musa sighed heavily, and reluctantly tore her eyes from the beautiful sight.

"You're right, and I will save her." 'She's all I've got', the human continued rather irrationally in her thoughts. "Anyway, do you see anything that would give an indication of where this sword will be?"

"No. And there shouldn't be. We want to find this thing first. If it's location were obvious, someone closer to it then us could get to it before we do."

"How are we supposed to find it then?"

"How you find everything, baka. We look for it." Hiei growled. Mysa glared at him.

"You just did this to point that out and make me look stupid, didn't you. Well, there's no one here but us, and I don't care what your opinion of me is, so this was completely pointless." She started to climb down out of the tree, then stopped abruptly, and shot him an angry look. "And no more 'help' in trees. It may be slower, but I prefer getting out of stuff by my own steam. At least this way if I fall, it will be an accident, not you tossing me out." She continued on her way out of the tree, slowly but surely, branch by branch, forced to stop every now and again to untangle a strap or chain.

Hiei, already on the ground, waiting, slightly amused but mostly disgusted by the human's slowness. He was waiting to see her fall, if truth be told. One of her chains had just tore off on one end and wrapped itself around a thick branch without her noticing, entangled in all the smaller twigs. Mysa, oblivious, kept moving, and Hiei watching in satisfaction, sure she would be pulled off balance and fall.

'Now, if I take my foot out of this crevice, I think I could reach–' Mysa finally felt the tug on her pants. 'Not again! Oh, no it ripped! It's so far out there! But if I tear off this end too, there will be a giant hole in my pants...' Without thinking further, she pulled herself up and onto the branch where her chain was stuck, balanced on the very tip. She didn't hold onto anything, not that there was anything to hold onto. All the other branches were too far away.

Hiei was shocked. The human, who until now had been very klutzy, had just leapt like a monkey to a branch that should have been at least five feet out of her reach, and sat, perfectly composed, on the tip of a branch that had narrowed to about a half an inch thick. It should have broke under her weight. With the same grace and ease, Mysa 'fell' back to where she had been before and continued clumsily out of the tree.

'You, Mysa, are an idiot. How are you going to explain that away if Hiei saw? You're supposed to be a normal human, remember! You already took a chance with the sword–'

'Oh, shut up. Even if he did see it, it doesn't matter. I'll tell him I was in gymnastics or something. He thinks I'm just a regular human, he'll buy it.'

'You're making a mistake. I don't think he will.'

'You're just stupid. He will. And then I can get away with a little more.' Silencing the other voice, Mysa did a little flip out of the tree, and landed on her feet, grinning at Hiei. "Gymnastics can be boring but useful sometimes", She said to him.

'What does she think I am, an idiot!' Hiei thought furiously to himself. But if he played along, she might get really sloppy, he could give some proof of something to Botan, and be rid of this damn human. So he merely glared at her, picked a direction, and started walking. After tucking the loose end of the chain into the waist of her pants, Mysa jogged a bit to catch up, then fell into step beside him.

"So, where are we going?" Silence. "Shouldn't we be finding a place to camp? It's almost dark, and I'm not fond of the idea of wandering around here at night when a whole bunch of hit men could be after us." Suddenly, he was in front of her, and she ran into him.

Shoving her away, Hiei began shouting. "You think! Because you took so long in that damn tree, we now have even less daylight to find a place! Since you're human, it'll have to be a hidden place; you'd be useless in a real fight." He sneered. In a flash, Mysa had her sword unsheathed, and held it up in front of her.

"Wanna say that again?" She growled. He looked contemptuously at her.

"Have you forgotten that I've already beaten you?" She snorted at him and waved the blade mockingly under his nose.

"That little bitty practice match? Of course you won. I was playing, as if that wasn't perfectly obvious. After all, you didn't even get scratched, now did you?" He turned his back on her and her katana and started to walk away.

"That's because I'm better then you, better then a human could ever hope to be." The demon said.

"And you're so sure I'm human?" Mysa chuckled. Hiei whipped around, but she wasn't there. She was behind him. Smirking, Mysa tapped him on the shoulder. He whirled around, drawing his katana as he did so, forcing Mysa to bring hers up sharply to avoid losing her head.

"What the hell are you?" He snarled. "You shouldn't of been able to do that." He hadn't felt a breeze, but somehow she had gotten behind him, and he hadn't seen her either. To top it all off, she was grinning at him.

"I'm just a human, remember? Just a human." This time she walked away, whistling, and started searching through the trees, looking for a good camp. Grudgingly Hiei followed, though he was sending off monster vibes of anger. It stopped 'raining'

Mysa was starting to feel guilty about the prank she pulled on him. It had to be humiliating, that she had gotten in easy kill distance without him noticing. Especially since he had that superiority complex. It was just about too dark to go any further when they stumbled onto a perfect camping sire. A good sized clearing surrounded a huge boulder, with a small, clear stream running nearby in the woods. There was just enough light left to collect some wood for a fire. Mysa had already gathered it up when Hiei pointed out snidely that the fire would draw unwanted attention to where they were.

"That may be so, but it would be better to die fighting then to die from cold, now wouldn't you agree?" She said mildly, ignoring his tone. Then she stared blankly at the pile of wood. She didn't know how to light it. "Matches. Need some matches." She muttered. A large box of matches came whistling out of some bushes a little off to the right. Yelping, Mysa ducked, and the box continued on to Hiei, who caught it with ease. Like lightening, he was on his feet, katana drawn. In total silence, he waited for whomever they were to show themselves... he didn't want to go running into an ambush (_Ha! The matches flew out of a bush... ambush... okay I'll be quiet now_).

Well, that's what he would have done if Mysa hadn't gone charging off into the woods screaming, "Who's there! Show yourself!" As a vein popped in his forehead, he followed the damn human, though at a slower pace. Then he heard a scream, and rushed to the source.

Mysa was kneeling on the ground, hunched over. She had a stunned look on her face, as if she had just been run through.

"Mysa!" Hiei shouted. She turned her face toward him, and the shocked look became one of joy.

"I'm fine! 3" Hiei fell over. "But remember earlier, how I said I wanted my paints and some paper? Well, look!" She stood up, and showed him what she had been hunched over. It was a huge mass of tubes of paint, and a thick notebook of blank paper. Some pencils were nearby. She smiled brightly at him, but the fire demon only glared at her. Mysa blinked. "What?"

'I should kill her!' Hiei thought angrily to himself. How dare she actually make him worried about her! 'Damn human, getting all worked up over paint!' "The next time you scream, make sure you're dying." He finally said to her, sheathing his katana and walking back to camp.

When he was out of sight, Mysa let her shoulders sag. Now she had only made him angrier at her. But she couldn't help herself, when she saw the paints, it had just sent a bolt of joy through her brain. Mysa had been less then truthful when she had admitted to her obsession. 'Well, it's not like I was going to hand out that information to a complete stranger!' She wasn't really addicted to swords–well, not entirely. What she was really obsessed with was... art. All true forms of art. Cooking, singing, painting, and especially katana's, the arts of how to use and make them. The only true art form (_'true art form' defined by what she had to try_) she hadn't tried her hand at was writing. And that's because of... 'Mother.'

With an angry shake of her head, Mysa straightened her shoulders. She didn't care about Hiei, she didn't feel guilty about lying to him, and she DID NOT care about her mother! Writing had just never struck her fancy, that's all.

Staring off in the direction Hiei had gone, her anger faded a bit. She should try to make him less mad at her. They were stuck together until the mission was over. Or one of them died.

Whatever came first.

Yeah, she should try. If they got in a fight, she didn't want her back unprotected just because she had made a joke on him. Not that she really thought he would do that, but how well did she know him? 'Whatever.' She wasn't going to make amends today, she decided, and headed back to the clearing. The fire was lit, and as soon as she set foot within the 'camp'. Hiei darted up a tree. He would have been in one before, but he wanted to make sure that the human would be smart enough to come back to camp, rather then wander around in the dark all night.

Settling down on a cozy branch, Hiei became honest with himself. The reason he hadn't killed her back at the paint thing was not because of Botan or laws. It was because the woman presented an infuriating mystery. Where did those scars come from? What was up with the black mist? How did she get hurt? When the mist had healed her, how come it didn't make the scars go away? How did she move that fast earlier? How come he didn't see it, or sense it? Her aura was human, she had no spirit energy, no demonic energy. And how come he couldn't read her mind? As he prepared himself for a sleepless night on watch, the questions ran around his brain. He didn't pay attention to what was going on down in the clearing.

Mysa picked up a stick, wrapped a sheet of paper around one end, and stuck the paper covered end in the fire. This caused the green stick to catch quicker, and when the end was properly lit, she wedged the stick into a crevice in the rock. 'Makeshift lightbulb.' She settled below it, and started sketching the sunset, every detail that she could remember going into the drawing. Soon, she started painting it in, but suddenly stopped.

She didn't have the right color for the cloud. She didn't even have the colors to make the right color. "If I had some silver, I could probably do it." She muttered out loud. But it seemed she had no choice. Though it pained her to do it, she was going to have to change the cloud color–

"No, I think a light grey with a drop of gold would serve." Said a voice from quite close to her. She shrieked and jumped, but quickly shut herself up.

"Are you dying?" Hiei said from his tree, irritated.

"No." Mysa choked out. 'But I think I'm going insane.' She continued in her thoughts. "Just a bug."

"I hate to contradict you, but I am no bug." The voice said. Mysa gaped at the owner of the voice.

"I can see that." What it was, in fact, was an arm. Made of dirt. That talked using it's hand. "So... are you real or am I crazy?"

"I am quite real. And if you think you're going crazy, you're handling it very well." Well. Such a nice hand... arm... thing.

"I've been a lot worse then crazy." Mysa didn't know what else to say. "Um... so what's your name?" The arm fell over.

"I am a human arm made out of dirt. You expect me to have a name... why?"

"I guess you're right." ... "Uh, could you be anything other then an arm? It feels really weird to be talking to one."

"It took me a hundred years to get this shape! It's the only one I have, so I apologize, but you're rather out of luck."

"Ah. Sorry." Silence. "Hey, if you're dirt, how come you talk and look like an arm and... can you see?" The hand waved the questions off (_the arm equivalent of us rolling our eyes_).

"Yes, I can see. I'm enchanted dirt, of course. I come from the mystical land of Avalon. A traveler stumbled upon my home, and wanted a cheap souvenir, so he scooped up a jarful of dirt." The arm bowed. "Say muah (_Don't know how to write it properly_). He lost me in his travels, and I had no idea where I was, so this is where I ended up. Lost."

"How can you hear with no ears, and see with no eyes?"

"I just said I'm ENCHANTED. That easily explains everything."

"I see. Well, I'm Akira Mysa, the demon in the tree is Hiei, and we're... on a quest." She finished, with a twisted smile. "Are you the one who tossed the matches and put the paints where I could find them?"

"The umbrella too."

"Oh. Oops. Anyway, why'd you do that?"

"Um... uh..." The arm stuttered, then whispered so softly that she almost didn't hear, "... I think you're cute."

"Aww! That's so sweet! Impractical, but sweet!" She smiled at the arm. "I know a name for you! We can call you Hans! Sound good?" The newly named Hans did an arm version of a shrug (_I'm too lazy to figure out one, so use your imaginations_).

"Better then Arm-Thing, which I have been called by others." He bowed again. "Hans Dirte, at your service. If it's in Lost, I know where it is, and can bring it to you."

"Really! You've just made my life soo much easier! Hans, do you have any... magical swords of death lying around?"

"Several! Just a minute." Hans sank into the earth. Mysa walked over to the tree Hiei was in.

"Hey, Hiei, guess what?"

"You've grown a brain."

"Harsh! No, I've had one for a long time. And, I've gone and saved us a lot of time while you were just sitting there. I just met an enchanted arm made out of dirt, who's bringing us the magical sword of death." Hiei's face suddenly appeared in front of her, hanging upside down from the tree.

"Do you know how stupid you sound?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. But it's true." Right then Hans came back, in little pieces,

each piece dragging a sword. Mysa raised an eyebrow at Hiei. "See? Either I'm right, or we're being attacked by dust bunnies." She walked away and sat next to the pile of katana's. "Hey, Hans, is this all of them?" Picking one up, it glowed green, and evil thoughts bombarded her brain, so she quickly dropped it. Hans reformed into a arm, and said,

"Yes. Well... there is one more, but... for some reason I couldn't get near it. The part of me I sent after it lost contact, and it isn't here, so I don't know what happened." Mysa groaned.

"That's probably our sword. Just in case..." She eyed the pile. "Do you have a place where we can hide these?"

"Sure do!" With a rumble, the ground under the pile gave way, and the swords sank into the earth. When the last one was a foot below the surface, all the dirt that was pushed out of the way by the katana's piled back on top, and soon it looked like nothing had happened. "And I'll leave part of me here to keep watch on it." A small pebble dislodged itself, and rolled over to the buried pile.

"All set, captain!" It squeaked. Mysa blinked.

"Hans, you rock! And though I hate to ask more of you, after you've already done so much..."

"It was no problem, Mysa-San."

"Mysa is fine. But, could I ask another favor of you?"

"Anything." 3

"Could you take us to the sword that you couldn't bring here?"

"Of course! However, I noticed that you move at a much slower rate then I do. Though it only took me a couple of minutes to get there, it would probably take you..." Hans thought. "A week. Perhaps more." Mysa fell over.

"Is there any faster way to get there?"

"Not above ground. If you move at the speeds you demonstrated earlier, you'd have some issues, because you couldn't see me when you're moving that fast."

"Why not?"

"To keep up with you at that speed, I'd have to be underground."

"Oh. That does present a problem." She yawned. "But that's a problem for tomorrow. Right now, Syrin's safe, and I have a picture to complete. I think I should finish my painting, sleep, and we can start out tomorrow morning. Good with you, Hiei?"

"Hn."

"I guess that's a yes in grumpy short people language." She ignored the popping vein and the twitching eye. "Now, you were saying about light grey and gold?" Mysa and Hans spent the next few hours on Mysa's painting, until the stick burnt out. Hans, being a gentlearm (gentleman), then went to get Mysa a tent to sleep in, with a sleeping bag and everything, he promised. All of him went, because he had to find 'just the right one'.

"Told you there was an enchanted arm made out of dirt. Isn't he sweet?"

"How can you tell it's a he?"

"His name is HANS. Boy name, boy arm. Besides, he thinks I'm cute. Because of that, I'd prefer to think him a guy. And he doesn't complain when I call him 'he' or anything, so he's cool with it... What's with that look?" Hiei: O.O

"He thinks you're cute?" Mysa/--x\

"That's why he's helping us."

"Because he thinks you're cute."

"I'm not evil to everyone, just jackass, stuck up, short, blind, possibly gay, sonofabitch demons." Scary smile. "And yes, MEN tend to think I'm cute. But, since you seem to disagree, I'm sure you won't mind agreeing to sleep out here, even though I asked Hans to get one of those nice two room deluxe tents?"

"Like I was going to sleep in it anyway. It's much better out here, without ugly humans clogging my sight, and with a fresh breeze to carry away their disgusting smell."

"Still persisting in thinking I'm human?"

"Well, you're not demon, so obviously you're human. An odd one, but human. I've known stranger." Mysa bared her teeth in a 'I hate you, kiss my ass' smile (_if you don't have one you need to get one_).

"I suppose by stranger you mean Kuwabara, who you're probably in love with." Hiei was just about to strangle her when Hans arrived back in the clearing.

"Found it, Mysa! A perfect... am I interrupting something?" Hiei was running across the clearing to where Mysa was. (_Hans is really fast, remember? So he can see all this_) Slipping under the ground, he reappeared right where Hiei was about to take his next step, and snatched his ankle. Hiei fell flat on his face (_Hans also happens to be really strong. Why? He's enchanted. That easily explains everything_). Mysa busted out in laughter.

"Hans! You are the bomb! That was totally awesome!" Hiei was scratching furiously at Hans, but it did nothing, because as fast as he clawed Hans away, Hans returned. (_En-CHAN-ted_! Singsong voice) Even chopping at him with his katana had no effect.

"Now, why would you be trying to hurt Mysa?" Hans said.

"I'm NOT trying to HURT her! I'm trying to KILL her!"

"I can't have that, you see. I happen to think she's a very nice person. Will you please stop that? You can't get loose that way. It doesn't hurt. It's just annoying." The demon started struggling to get out of Hans' hold. Mysa smiled at Hans.

"Thank you, Hans. That was very sweet of you." With one last laugh at Hiei, she entered the tent (_I dunno how it got set up... I mean, "En-CHAN-ted!"_) and got herself ready for bed. Folding her clothes into a neat little pile in the corner, she snuggled into the sleeping bag, and promptly fell asleep (_I wish I could fall asleep that fast_).

Hiei and Hans stayed stuck together in the middle of the clearing for a few more hours until Hans had gotten a promise from Hiei that he was okay now, and wouldn't try to kill Mysa anymore, under pain of a dress.

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_WritingWoman: Wearing a dress is excruciatingly painful for me, more so then death. I'm rather comfortable with the idea of death. Dresses... not so. And since Hiei ALSO couldn't care less about his own death, dress seemed a fitting substitute. Did anyone else notice that if you said Hans Dirte like Dirte Hans, in Japanese tradition, it sounds and looks like Dirty Hands? Um. Anyway, tune in next time to find out what happened to that poor lost pebble! Oh, and Mysa, Hiei and Hans too. Them too. I'm just more worried about the pebble, myself. _


	9. Sticks and Stones

_**Ch.9: Sticks and Stones**_

The pebble was being swept away by the powerful underground stream, enjoying the rush. Quickly he came to the right spot, and flung himself out of the water, then dug his way up to the surface.

'So far, so good, Captain _Dirte_.' He reported back to the main consciousness of Hans.

'Go farther, be better, Private _Dirte_.' The main consciousness replied.

'Roger that', and the pebble disconnected. Rolling along the surface now, he started singing. "Mysa's so pretty, and witty, and bright! And it's a pity, that I am not a human, tonight." Suddenly, he was scooped up off the ground, and trapped in a metal box. For some reason, he was no longer connected to the main. The pebble began to panic and throw himself at the walls of his metal container. Whoever had caught him shook the box.

"Shut up in there!" A rough voice said, and in silence, the little pebble let himself be carried away.

After what felt like forever, the lid of the box opened, and the pebble was unceremoniously dumped into a small copper bowl. Where ever he was, it wasn't much brighter then the box. Abruptly, he came face to face with a pair of glowing green eyes.

"ACK!" He shouted, and skidded away, but he was trapped by the sides of the bowl. The eyes narrowed as a voice boomed in laughter. After it stopped, it said,

"Hello, little pebble. I hear you know a girl named Mysa. Would you be so kind as to tell me where she is? I don't want to be mean to you, so please tell." The pebble stuck up his nose and shook his head (_work with me, people_).

"I will never betray Mysa!" He got smashed with a hammer. "Oy!" Al the little pieces of him said. "That didn't hurt!" Water got poured in the bowl, and the pieces proceeded to play a rousing game of Marco Polo (_anyone else notice the British overtones? And has anyone ever won a game of Marco Polo? How the hell do you win that? You can't, not the way we play. The whole game is just an excuse to be loud, get wet, and cheat_). Pollution was added to the water, and though they were singed (_I hate the English language sometimes_) a bit, "It still doesn't hurt. We're rock; we don't feel."

The disembodied voice sighed in exasperation. "It's not working! They're made out of bloody stone, for hell's sake!" The eyes suddenly appeared close to the bowl. "You're ugly, nobody likes you, Mysa thinks you're weird and you're going to spend your life alone, a burden on society." The pebble bits began to wail in sadness. The pair of eyes blinked. 'Heh. It worked.' "Come, now, pebble, no need for tears! If you tell me where Mysa is, I'll be your best friend! 3" the pebble bits hesitated. "Please tell me. Remember, Mysa doesn't like you, but I think you're great!" (_Gag. You people don't know how much it hurt to write that_) They stopped crying. Hiccuping, they said,

"All right. Just promise not to hurt her." Fangs bared in an evil smile glimmered in the darkness.

"I promise."

1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. IT'S A MOOSE!.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1

Hiei was getting seriously irritated. The sun should have come up by now! But no, it was still dark out, the moon sitting serenely over head no matter how many death glares he sent it. He heard Hans move about below.

"Hey, Hiei-San! I'll take over watch now, okay?" Hiei snorted.

"The hell you are. Like I'm going to be able to sleep with you on guard. Though Mysa's stupid enough to trust you, I am not. I'm staying until the sun rises." Shuffling noises.

"Well, you're going to have an awfully long wait. Night, here, lasts twenty four hours."

"WHAT?"

"Yep. We don't know why, but nights last 24 hours, and days last 48."

"So, your 'week' is really going to take about a month."

"Yes."

"She's going to be royally pissed at you."

"I know." He said sadly. "But there's not a lot I can do about it, and Mysa-chan needs her sleep, plus I didn't want her walking around at night." The questions had been nagging at Hiei all night, and were just about to drive him crazy.

"What do you know about her? I heard that she almost never sleeps." More shuffling noises.

"Can I come up?"

"The hell that I care. Why do you want to?"

"Because I don't want to wake Mysa-Chan up."

"Whatever." Hiei's eyes picked out something that looked like a dark snake slowly slithering up the branches. When it reached about eye level, it formed back into Hans. Quietly, the arm made out of dirt said,

"I know she's afraid of me. I can see it when she looks at me." This startled Hiei. The two had seemed to get along like two peas in a pod.

"Hn."

"Really. My shape bugs her, I know it does. Why, I don't know. I didn't want to ask. She's nice about it, and pretends that she's not afraid, but when she looks at me, it's there."

"What a stupid thing to be afraid of, a arm."

"Fears are not rational."

"I wouldn't know. I'm not afraid." If the arm could look shifty eyed, I'm sure it would have.

"I would have to believe you, seeing as you have not yet expressed any fears." Hiei shot a look at the arm.

"Why do you talk so weird?" Hans shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe the writer has just started a bunch of smart people classes, and now feels rather smart. Or it could be that she spent the afternoon singing 'I'm A Cucumber', dance included." Hiei hit him and muttered,

"There is no writer, baka. Read your lines!"

"Oh, yeah. ANYWAY, he–" Hans froze, then poked Hiei. "Psst! What's my line!"

WritingWoman: CUT! What the hell is up with you, Hans! Didn't you memorize it beforehand!

Hans: wailing NO! You always wing it! How am I supposed to memorize lines that don't exist!

Hiei: annoyed That is it! I quit! This is the FIFTEENTH TIME we've run this scene! He's never going to get it! Excuse me, but I have to go kill my manager.

W.W.: Oh no you don't. You have to stay until this is finished.

Hiei: Shut your trap, baka. I'll kill you too.

W.W.: Bring it on, short stuff! both adopt fighting stances, katana's in hand, but then Hiei's turns into a small bottle of nail polish

Hiei: WHAT THE HELL!

W.W.: I'm a the writer! What I say goes!

Mysa: Am I done sleeping yet?

W.W.: NO! looks around Hey, where'd Hans go?

Hans: typitytypitytype. Suddenly, everyone is looking at him writing the events on W.W.'s computer Um... hi? W.W. looks like she's about to pummel him, and since she's the writer, she can actually make it hurt. He starts wailing I was just making my lines a fixed thing!

W.W.: shoves Hans off computer All right, all right, everyone back in position, let's continue. And, Hans... says sweetly, Hans gulps STAY OFF MY COMPUTER, OR YOU'LL BE AN ENCHANTED BUTT BOIL!

Hans: Yipe!

ANYWAY:

"I've always talked this way. What's wrong with it?"

"Hn."

"Okay, I don't know why you just said yes, but whatever floats."

"Are you just here to waste my time?"

"I thought you wanted to know about Mysa?" o.o "Why DO you want to know about Mysa?" Hiei already had an answer.

"I'm supposed to be keeping tabs on her, as a favor. It's my job. You didn't think I'd be traveling with her by choice, did you? If you did, you're stupider then I thought."

"I would. Travel with her by choice, I mean."

Hiei muttered so low that you can't hear () "Tell her what I just told you and I'll make the writer torture you."

W.W.: Hey! Don't go threatening people with me!

Hiei: Shut up and continue. W.W. continues

"I take it that you don't want her to know that your job is to spy on her."

"If she doesn't know, she won't hide as much, making this dumb assignment over quicker."

"Right. You don't like her, then?" Hiei looked at Hans out of the corner of his eye.

"Right. You got a problem with that?" Hans shook his hand (head).

"No, I don't." Silence, because the writer had just got a phone call and had lost her train of thought so she could talk to her best friend about mooses, cheese and cucumbers. Hans started thinking of the picture Mysa had painted earlier. He was thankful Hiei hadn't seen it, because then Mysa would have been embarrassed. She had painted in the side of his face to the picture. Hans had asked why, and she had blushed and said, "Well, he was there, and I don't know what was just past his big fat head, so I had to paint him in." Wisely, Hans had nodded and let it go.

"So, did she mention any powers or anything?"

"No, we mostly talked about her painting, and she told me why she was looking for a magical sword of death. Syrin means a lot to her." Hiei snorted.

"That's a human for you. Lets people and things mean too much. They're such weak and useless things."

"I disagree. Apparently, Syrin has the power to end the world."

"No, she has the power to set in motion the end of the world, by DYING. Like I said, weak." Hans shook his hand (head).

"But there is power in dying. After all, look at Mysa." A pause. Look at Mysa? Hiei was confused, but kept his face stone. Hans continued, ignorant that he was about to reveal one of Mysa's many secrets. "She's dead, and I'd say she's pretty powerful."

"Nani!" Hiei was startled into asking.

"Well, she was dead. She's alive now, obviously." Hiei said nothing, and Hans became curious. "You mean you didn't know? You can't see it following her everywhere?" It suddenly clicked in Hiei's brain. Mysa had met Botan when she died. So did that make her blur/shadow thing her... death? If she was being stalked by her own death, what was healing her? How had she come back to life? Like Urameshi? Then wouldn't she too be in the Reikai's employ? The only part of that that made sense was that Mysa had died, and met Botan. Smacking himself mentally, he realized that he should have known that already. Hans had solved the easiest mystery, and left the floodgates open for more.

Like, how she had died.

"Hn. Of course I knew. That's why I was assigned, because I could see the shadow." Hiei realized how completely unlike himself he was being. Asking questions, giving real answers... being around the stupid humans so much was causing his brain to rot, apparently.

Just then, Mysa stumbled out of her tent, yawning and straightening her shirt. "What time is it?" She mumbled, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. "Why's it so dark?" Hans 'eeped' and hunched into the tree.

"Mysa! What are you doing up so early!" She blinked at him, and for the first time Hiei noticed the slight hesitation in her movements around Hans.

"I'm hungry. And I had this dream... well, I'm hungry. It can't be that early, can it? My ears are ringing, too... you weren't talking about me, were you?" She smiled sleepily. "Just kidding." A thought occurred to her. "Holy hell, there is something to eat in this place, isn't there!"

"Yes, there is. Mysa, I should probably tell you something... A week in Lost is about a month in your world. And... this place... isn't as safe as it may seem. Besides the crazies and psycho's that inevitably find their way here... there's also the big lizards." Mysa was silent for a moment, as her brain tried to understand it all. All she had wanted was some food, and instead got bombarded with information, bad news. Then it sank in. A month. Psycho's. Big lizards...?

"Big lizards? What do you mean?"

"I mean, BIG LIZARDS. You know: the worst of the lot has a big head and a lot of teeth... two tiny arms... walks on two legs..." 'Sounds like Hiei,' Mysa thought to herself. "I've heard it called 'Rex' before, or something like that. It was hard to tell; his screaming stopped as the lizard gobbled him up. Thankfully, they're rare."

"Oh! You mean, a dinosaur! A T-Rex!" Her face lit up with understanding, then she blanched. "Shit. A T-Rex. I wonder how it got here?" She woke up a bit more. Rounding on Hans, she glared at him. "A MONTH?" He shook.

"Yes..."

"HOW DID A WEEK BECOME A MONTH?"

"Time flows differently here... a week for us is about a month for you."

"AND HOW IS THIS?"

"Um... a day here is two days on Earth, and a night is a full 24 hours." She fumed silently for a while, glaring into the tree where Hans stayed for protection. Her glare was so fierce that for a moment, he forgot he couldn't be hurt.

"Hans, you'd better stay in that tree until the sun comes up. I don't like liars."

'_Hypocrite.'_

'_Shut up. No one asked you.'_

'_Maybe you should start. Then perhaps you wouldn't put your foot in your mouth so much.'_

'_Keep talking and we'll see where my foot ends up.'_

'_You idiot. You're talking to yourself.'_

'_I hate you, you stupid whore.'_

'_Don't be rude. You're only hurting yourself.'_ Mysa hated that little nagging voice in the back of her head. It was always so full of itself... Thinking it was all that. But it's futile to argue against yourself. No matter the outcome, you lose. So Mysa gave up her inner argument, with the last words, of course.

'_Call me an idiot. You started it._' Then she ignored the little voice, who wanted to continue arguing.

Looking around for something to do – because now she was fully awake, and there was no way she'd be able to go back to sleep now – her eyes rested on her sword. That fight with Hiei probably dulled it a little... should fix that. After looking over her shoulder to make sure he wasn't watching, Mysa concentrated on her palm, holding it in front of her. Gently, she breathed out. The black mist headed straight for her palm, and began to swirl delicately around, finally gaining a vague shape and solidity. A few seconds later, a small, very real, rectangular stone was sitting in the middle of her hand.

"What the hell was that?" Hiei said from right behind her, so close that Mysa could feel his breath when he talked. She jumped about a foot in the air, landing and whirling on him.

"What's what?" She asked innocently, trying to hide the stone behind her back. He snarled,

"I'm not an idiot. What is that, and how did you just do that?" She sniffed and stuck her nose up at him.

"If you're going to ask so rudely, I'm not going to tell." Hiei's Jagan glowed beneath his headband as he tried again to probe her mind. He was tired of the mystery. It was still protected by the black shield of ice. Instead of pulling out directly, this time, he tried to push through the darkness. It felt almost physical, as if he was being rebuffed by millions of steel cobwebs. Then a voice rang out unexpectedly in his head.

'_LEAVE ME ALONE. THIS IS NO PLACE FOR YOU._' His hands flew to cover his ears by sheer reflex, as if it could block the noise. He felt someone trying to push past his own shields, and quickly he withdrew.

When he opened his ruby eyes, Mysa was still standing before him, only her gaze, which had until now been playfully angry, had become stone cold, and backlit with sadness and real anger.

"Leave me alone, Hiei." She said quietly, turning her back on him and walking around the giant boulder. Hiei watched her walk away, feeling as if he was adrift on a stormy ocean, and his boat had just been snatched from under him. He felt as if he had just lost something very important, but didn't understand what it was or why he felt that way.

Then he roughly shrugged the feeling off. What did he care?

Mysa sat on the dark side of the boulder, staring off into the woods, katana resting against her collar bone, turning the stone over and over in her hand. She had learned to make these almost immediately after her return to life. The stone was relatively light in weight, pitch black in color, and very rough, yet somehow incredibly smooth. She called it her Nevenu Stone, uneven yet not (Nevenu is uneven backwards, for those who didn't realize this). Making the stone had been her third conscious try of her 'powers'. The first two had been healings, once for herself, once for Syrin. That's when she'd been forced to tell Syrin everything that had happened after her death and resurrection.

But Hiei... Mysa clenched her fist around the stone, tearing skin and causing her hand to bleed. How dare he, trying to barge into her mind like that! Releasing the bloodstained stone, she let it drop to the ground, and stared absently at her wounded hand. At least he hadn't been able to see anything... the first time he had tried, it hadn't annoyed her much, because he was just testing the waters. The others (the ones that could, anyway) had done so too. But this... trying to shove his way into her mind as if he had a right to be there, to know... The scariest part was that he had gotten halfway through. If she hadn't taken up counter measures, he might have actually gotten in. Mysa didn't know if she could handle having all her walls torn down, and her secrets so coldly exposed. If he got proof, and Botan got her hands on it, Mysa's whole life would be under the microscope of the Reikai scientists. She just knew she was an oddity they had never encountered before. She could see it every time Botan looked at her.

Why had she agreed to do this? A heavy weight settled on her shoulders. Yes, it was a help to Syrin just by not being there, but all she was doing here was slowing Hiei down. The little demon would probably have found the damn sword by now if he wasn't stuck with the burden of watching over her. Anyway you look at it, she was hurting the mission. Perhaps she should just walk off. Hans, if he even found her, would never rat on where she was.

_(No.)_

_(No? No what?) _

_(You can't run away. You'd just make matters worse by doing that.)_

_(Oh yeah? How?)_

_(Hiei would come looking for you. It's not a matter of job or duty; it would be an insult to his pride if you snuck out from under his nose. He would be forced to look for you to heal his ego.)_

_(He could stand to lose a little ego, if you ask me.) _

_(Stop trying to be a smart ass. All you're managing is the ass part. You made your bed, now lie in it.) _

_(But it's lumpy, and there's no cover.)_

_(Double pace training next time.)_

The connection snapped off, and Mysa's senses returned. So it was decided. She wouldn't run off. Besides, just look who she would be imitating if she did... All right. When it lightened enough to travel, she would go, and she wouldn't be a burden, she wouldn't slow Hiei down. And she would keep him the hell out of her mind. Picking the stone up once more, she unsheathed her katana, and began to sharpen it. Soon she was lost in the soothing, rhythmic ringing-rasping noise.

She never even noticed the green eyes watching her from the woods.

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_WritingWoman: Hey, ya'll. What's up? It took forever to write this one, and when it was finished, I realized why. It wasn't written the way I had planned. Instead of drawing them together , I went and shoved the stubborn little bastards apart! Damn! Anyway, the chap. didn't start out with this ending in mind. It just... mutated._


	10. Heh, Like I Know What To Call It

_**Ch.10: Heh, Like I Know What To Call It.**_

Mysa and Hiei had been gone for just over a day, and already a routine had been set up back at Syrin's house. They had decided to shift around chores, and it was Yusuke's turn to make lunch. He had raided the kitchen for something easy to make. All he could find was condensed soup in cans... there was no can opener. Out of ideas, Yusuke snatched the sword from it's sheath and began to bang away on the can with the butt of the hilt. Syrin, hearing the noise, peered around the door, curious. She let out a shriek when she saw what he was doing.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She ran into the room and expertly snatched the sword from his hand. "Do you have any idea what this is worth?" Yusuke looked blank.

"It's just a sword..." Syrin's face flushed with anger and frustration.

"Just a sword! This sword is worth thousands of dollars!" Kurama heard the yelling and popped in to see what was going on.

"What's with all the shouting, Syrin-chan?" He asked. Syrin whirled, sword in hand, and pointed an angry finger at the bewildered Yusuke.

"That moron was treating a two-thousand dollar katana like a steak knife!" She strived to remain angry in the light of Kurama's smile, turning her attention to inspecting the sword. No damage. "You're lucky this is such a finely crafted sword. If you had nicked it, when Mysa came back she would have killed you and used your bones for carving practice." There was a gentle tug on the blade, and she handed it over to Kurama.

"Really? It's worth so much? Who crafted it?" He inspected the sword as well. Syrin smiled smugly.

"Bladed Armageddon." Kurama's head snapped up.

"Really?" He saw the laughing light in Syrin's eyes and relaxed. "Oh. You're just joking. Okay."

"No, I'm not. Check underneath the cross guard." He looked, and there was the small symbol, the burning Ankh with two katana's crossed inside the loop. It was tiny, but exquisite, and completely impossible to fake, as many had found out. His eye's went wide.

"It is! How did Mysa get a hold of one? And then let Yusuke use it? Hiei would kill for this katana..."

"Hiei would kill for a handful of dirt," Yusuke grumbled. The others ignored him.

"Mysa got it because she... _knows_... Bladed Armageddon. She let Yusuke use it because all she had to do is pay for the materials and she gets a new one."

"But I thought no one knew who Bladed was..." Syrin was still laughing at him, and Kurama used that big brain of his. "No way."

"Way." Syrin said. Yusuke looked back and forth between the two, then stomped out of the room. It was obvious that no one was going to tell him exactly what was going on... Well, then, they could just make lunch themselves.

When Yusuke was gone, Kurama asked his question.

"But how can Mysa be Bladed? She's too young." Syrin shook her head.

"No, she's not. Because of 'Bladed's' rep, people think she's a lot older then she is. They think she's been selling for a long time, when her katana's have only been for sale for about three years. It all started out as a dare, as a matter of fact. She was showing me her latest creation, and I got bored, so I told her that she'd never have the guts to sell one. Mysa being Mysa, she had to go and sell one. It's her mantra, you see." He raised an eyebrow. " 'Ignore loss, become accustomed to pain, confront fear'. She was afraid to sell, so she had to do it. But at the beginning, neither of us knew how to go about it. So we went on the internet, and found this nifty site where beginners could sell handmade katana's, and the site was rumored to have big buyers around. But you needed a brand name to sell... and 'Bladed Armageddon' was born. We actually have a whole personality created for her." Syrin rolled her eyes. "It's hard to believe that such an idiot could be a genius. Ask her the first few numbers of pi and she starts drooling, but start comparing the different densities of different steels, and she's God." She sighed.

Kurama laughed silently. If only Hiei knew... one of life's little 'Haha, kiss my ass' (irony is so old) type thing, he guessed. "So, are we going to make lunch?" He asked her, and she smiled at him. Boy, Kurama was looking better and better every minute... and he was drop dead gorgeous to begin with. Syrin tried to drag forward a mental picture of Kyo, but it was hazy and fuzzy.

"Sure we are. I'll need your help, though. I'm not that great at cooking. And after lunch, perhaps you would like to help me design a few more traps?" He grinned, and those lovely emeralds of his sparkled enchantingly.

"I'd be delighted to." Damn, but the boy was fine. Syrin couldn't keep the smile off her face while they prepared lunch. It was just... there.

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"Botan!"

"Yes, Koenma sir?"

"I see that there has been another theft." Botan gulped.

"Yes, sir."

"Do we even know who it is yet?"

"No, sir. We can't find a single trace to lead us to her."

"_Her_? How do we know that it's a her?"

"This time the thief left a note, and the writing has been identified as female. But other then that, nothing. If she's human, she is one that has no or leaves behind no DNA, or any evidence of tampering of the seals. If she's a demon, I don't know what kind; she gives off no energy signals. The items are just there; then they're gone."

"What did the note say?"

"Something to the effect of, 'I'm terribly sorry, but it has to be done.' That's all."

"That's all?"

"Yes sir." Koenma thought a while.

"Could it be a ghost?"

"Ghosts couldn't touch the objects that she has stolen, sir."

"I think we have a problem, Botan."

"I think so too, Koenma sir."

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The sky had just begun to turn grey in Lost, when the ringing noise Mysa had been making stopped abruptly, jolting Hiei to full awareness, so he just barely caught the breathed, "Shit." from behind the boulder.

"Hiei." Mysa said, still very quiet.

"What?" He asked, wishing that she didn't have that stupid barrier so they could 'talk' completely silently.

"Don't move or make any loud noises. And tell Hans to stop snoring." Yeah, like that wasn't a complete oxymoron. Mysa didn't elaborate, though; and she didn't need to. Right then, Hiei saw the movements in the trees.

It was a giant... _bird_?...okay. The bird was about twenty feet tall as it stood on its powerful hind legs, with its tiny wingless arms short and close to its chest. The tail was long, unbirdlike and completely unsuited to flying. The head was also unbirdlike, with a wide muzzle and tons of large teeth.

But it was most definitely a bird, covered in feathers as it was.

T-Rex.

King of the Lizards.

A giant, evil, toothed chicken.

Hiei nudged Hans with his foot.

"Huh? Whatzn-" the fire demon clamped his hands tight over Hans'... hand, to shut him up.

"Shut up, you baka arm. We have a problem. Just stay quiet." He released the hand. The T-Rex whipped its head to look at the tree, then back to the boulder where Mysa sat, unmoving. Mysa watched the giant chicken shift on its feet, turning its head to get a better look at her. It breathed in strongly. Mysa didn't breathe at all; she was too busy watching his teeth and seeing herself crunched between them. Her eyeballs squishing out of her head in particular had some morbid fascination for her. She didn't want THAT to happen.

So what now? Should she move?

A bug flitted across the Rex's nose, and it moved like lightening to snatch it up. Well, that got rid of the 'moving' plan. Apparently, the Rex had evolved to greater heights. The thing was incredibly fast. She would hate to see what a plant eater could do by now.

If she couldn't out run it being normal, why not be abnormal? Mysa reached confidently for the black mist.

It wasn't there.

And now she had to sneeze.

Oh, shit (Mysa's like me. She sneezes very violently. You know, the whole face shattering, body rocking type sneeze that would kill most people).

Hiei sat in his tree, waiting for something to happen, wondering with some amusement what she would do, or if she would get eaten. Serves her right for trying to get in his head, then act all offended because he did the same. A few seconds pass. Why isn't she moving? Why isn't the Rex attacking? He looked away from the Rex and toward the boulder. He realized that her mental shield was gone, and he plunged into her head without a backward glance.

'Can'tmovecan'tmovewhereareyouwhythehellareyougonenowcan'tmovenopowerwherethehellis she?' Then he couldn't go farther. Her shield was there, but it had moved so that it was under her conscious mind.

Hiei pulled out and smirked a little. So, her 'power' wasn't always under her control. Then a huge sneeze erupted from behind the boulder, and Mysa bolted. The T-Rex rumbled and began to chase after her.

'ShitshitshitshitshitthisissuchfuckingBULLSHIT!' Mysa thought as she ran as fast as she could, which was still pretty fast considering that she had no extra energy helping her. But the Rex was closing in. Suddenly, she wasn't even running at all. She was being carried, and she was going too fast for her unaided eyes to see. With a sigh, Mysa gave up. She wasn't even going to try to understand what was going on right now. It was enough to know that the Rex was gone. She could probably handle anything else.

Probably.

Abruptly, they stopped, and Mysa fell to the ground on her ass. It was so unexpected that she ended up sprawled all over the ground. Sitting up and blinking, the first person she saw was a certain demon with awesome hair and scorching eyes.

Well, that explained a few things.

Getting up as gracefully as she could, Mysa brushed the dirt off her clothes, nodded politely at Hiei, and began walking.

"Where do you think you're going, baka?" He demanded. Mysa turned sharply on her heel, and looked Hiei square in the eye, face blank.

"I'm going to go see if McDonalds is open." Hiei: -.-U

"We're in the middle of LOST. There is no McDonalds here, you idiot!" Her face stayed carefully emotionless, and that unnerved Hiei slightly. He was more used to her outbursts and quirks then this... acceptance. Raising a hand, she pointed at a bright neon yellow M-fry thing that protruded above the treetops.

"I beg your pardon, but I do believe you are wrong. Will you join me for breakfast once Hans shows up?" The police emotionless was beginning to get to Hiei, he glared at her, not saying anything.

Hans burst into the clearing at that moment.

"Mysa! 3" he sang, sashaying up to the pair. A tiny pebble rolled off Mysa's shoe, and joined the main Hans (didn't quite know how to say that). Mysa's face finally showed emotion, giving Hans a faint smile, but it was still like she wasn't really there behind her face. The shield, though, Hiei noticed, was back in its usual place, as thick as ever.

"Hello, Hans. I'm glad to see you got here safely. Would you like to get some breakfast?" Hans stopped from getting any closer to Mysa, and craned his head up to see her better.

"Are you all right?" He asked. Another faint smile.

"I'm fine."

"Then I'd love to accompany you, though personally I don't eat."

"Great. Coming, Hiei?" With another glare, he followed her. Walking in the door, Mysa halted abruptly. "What the hell are we doing here?" She demanded loudly, startling the fat old people behind the counter, and the ...people... she was with.

"You insisted we eat breakfast here, baka ningen." Hiei growled. Mysa turned and blinked.

"I did?" She rubbed her chin and looked thoughtful. "Hm. So I did. Sorry! I wasn't thinking. Well, not about breakfast... Must have been on autopilot." She grinned at them. "Who woulda thought that there would be a Micky D's all the way out in Lost? There really are everywhere!" Hiei's eye twitched, and he placed a hand on his katana, then had to forcefully restrain himself from attempting to kill her. Oblivious, Mysa marched up to the counter, and fired off orders on what she wanted, and how, _precisely_, she wanted it cooked. She looked back over her shoulder at Hiei. "What do you want, Hiei?"

"I'm not eating this garbage."

"Aw, come on. I'll buy you an ice cream!" Mysa was being sarcastic, acting like she was talking to a two year old, but Hiei took her absolutely seriously and barked out his order. Mysa blinked again. "Well, grr." The fire demon went to find a seat, while the human chatted with the cashiers until their food was ready. Finally, it was, and Mysa went over to where the demon sat in the empty fast food restaurant. "I found out how come there's a Micky D's here."

"Hn." Hiei grunted, uninterested. "Where's my ice cream?"

"You can only eat dessert after the meal, and you don't want it melting while you eat, now do you? Besides, I didn't know what kind you liked. But how these people got here is really weird. They had been sent to work on a remote island, but soon the islanders - tourists, mostly - left the island, because it had become haunted... and there was a volcano due to erupt. No one ever sent a plane for the people here, and soon they were trapped on the island. One of the workers went crazy, and demanded that they were all Lost, and as the poisons of M. D's food sunk into their brains, they began to believe him, so they all ended up here." Hiei was done now with his food, and said.

"Whatever. Where's my ice cream?" Mysa rolled her eyes.

"Fine. What flavor do you like?"

"All of them."

"Just one." Growl growl.

"Vanilla." She got up and went to get him his ice cream, after convincing the cashiers that money in Lost was useless, so why should she pay? The human drowned them in big long words until they caved and gave her the food for free. It was easier then listening to her babble. Mysa came back with a big sundae for Hiei, and actually started to eat her food.

+Flick+ Something bounced off Hiei's nose. He quickly looked up from his ice cream, didn't see anything wrong, and went back to eating.

+Flick+ Something nicked his ear, and he brushed absently at it.

+Flick+ Hit the bandana. Hiei finally dragged his attention away from his ice cream, and noticed the three tiny chunks of fry lying near him. He glared death rays at Mysa.

"Stop it." He growled. She looked at him with innocent eyes.

"Stop what?" Flutter eyelashes.

"Stop throwing fries at me or I'll run you through." Blink blink.

"But I didn't do it!"

"The whole place is empty except for us and Hans. Hans has no fries. It was you." Pout.

"It was him!" Mysa cried, and pointed vaguely into empty space near them. Hiei: -.-U

"Baka ama." He snarled, then snatched up his ice cream and moved across the room, hidden by a thin pane of glass. Mysa smiled mischievously, and stretched to put her feet in the demon's former seat, contentedly munching her fries.

"That wasn't nice." Hans said reproachfully.

"No, but it was fun. Besides, I didn't mean any harm by it. If he had been anyone else, he would have thrown the fries right back at me. He's too serious." She munched another fry. "Gotta respect him, though."

"You have a weird way of showing respect." Hans mumbled, and Mysa shot a look at the arm.

"Can't help it. I do respect him, however. He's great with a katana, I'm pretty sure there's a brain under all that hair, he saved me from that Rex, and he's... how I would have turned out if I hadn't had Syrin around. Cold, mean, not knowing much more then hate or bitterness. But... I don't think I have such a good reason for it. Then again, I don't know his story. Maybe he was just born this way." Then she shrugged. "No matter the case, I'm trying to do him a favor, make him lighten up a little bit. It probably won't work, but it's worth a shot, right?"

"This is a big change." Hans said. "A few minutes ago, you would've at least harmed either of us greatly. Now... you're trying to help him?" She grinned.

"I can't hurt you, Hans! You're too nice. Yeah, I guess I'm trying to help him. After all, he did save me from a dinosaur. And, I had a little talk with myself. I'm not good for much else on this journey, so why not try to help him? Or at least have some fun... at his expense. About the same thing. There's more then hate to everyone, you know." '_Except Harkio.' 'Well, he's not human, demon... or even a recognizable life form.' 'Thanks to you.' 'Yes, thanks to you. And me. Not her, though.'_

Hans rolled his eyes (twirled his fingers) at Mysa's explanation.

"It would be hard to imagine you acting like him, hateful and bitter."

"Yet I'm quite capable of it. If we were back on earth, I'd tell you to ask any number of people." She gave him a big smile and started on her burger. "I'm rather evil, really." Chatting with Hans until she was finished, Mysa then went over to collect Hiei from his seat. He was just finishing his third ice cream (He bullied the last two out of the people behind the counter), and grudgingly stood up to go. Walking to the door, they were stopped by the M.D. workers. An especially fat one stood in front, and began to speak.

"By order of the Great Double Cheeseburger With Everything On It, the newcomers are not to leave, but to stay, and mix their good, sane blood with ours, to produce normal children to carry on our legacy." Mysa managed to look astonished, disgusted, and horrified all at the same time. Hiei only looked pissed. He put his hand on his katana and crouched, prepared to fight his way out, then looked over at Mysa because of some impulse or another.

She was walking toward them.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked, astounded.

"Proving that I, at the very least, am not sane. Now shush, or they'll hear you... me." She stood directly in front of the apparent leader. Then she crouched, and whispered, "Dance."

"Morgifier?" The leader asked, well, I think he asked.

Mysa leapt up, and screamed at the top of her lungs, "DANCE!" She continued jumping up in the air, but now she twirled as she did so, still screaming "DANCE!" Suddenly, she stopped. Then, she ran to the left until she hit the wall, gobbling like a turkey who's about to die. Using the wall to push herself into a turn, she ran back the other way, again until she ran into a wall. Coming back for a third time, she stopped abruptly in front of the group. Twisting her neck around slowly, she stared at them with wide, crazy eyes (my eyes can do that, and it scares the crap out of a lot of people! Which makes it a lot of fun to do). Mysa said with an amazing tone of calm, "How does a four-legged muffin dance? I shall show you, paper-mache-cow. Come with me." She did a flip right into the middle of the stunned group, and began the routine all over again.

The group panicked, forgot why they were even bothering, and ran back behind their counters. When they were gone, Hiei could see Mysa holding the door open for him. Nose stuck in the air, he walked through.

"See? And no one died." She commented once they were outside.

"Pity." He responded, not noticing the look Mysa and Hans shared.

About an hour later, Mysa was much less optimistic about how easy it would be to get Hiei to laugh. She had tried every joke she knew, and it seemed as if the demon was made of stone.

Hiei wondered if his forced traveling companion had really gone insane. When he looked over and she was making a face like a constipated pirana, he was almost completely sure.

"Hell!" Mysa sat down on a flat rock, put her head in her hands and glared at Hiei. "Don't you _ever_ laugh?" She said in an exasperated voice.

"Hn." He said, and kept walking. Hans moved over to where the human sat.

"Mysa-chan?" The hand whispered.

"Yeah? What's up, Hans?"

"I have to go." She raised a surprised eyebrow.

"_Go_? As in, _go_ go? Like, go to the bathroom type go?"

"No, as in leave, go."

"But you said you'll help us find that one sword!"

"And I will. But I need to find the way there over land. If you keep walking in this direction, you should be okay until I come back."

"How long will you be gone?"

"Um... probably two hours." Mysa groaned and leaned back on the rock. Two hours alone with the one person in the worlds that she couldn't get to laugh. This was gonna be fun... as fun as getting run through, with a 58 more chance of dying.

"Fine. I'll see you when you get back. You'll be able to find us, right?"

"No problem." A little pebble hopped off Hans and took it's place once more on Mysa's shoe. "As long as that's there, it'll be easy to find you." Mysa smiled at him.

"All right, Hans. See you later." The hand melted into the ground, and the human quickly caught up with Hiei. "Hans has left." She said when she was within earshot.

"I know." Silence.

"He said he's going to make sure about where we're headed, and that he'll be back in about two hours."

"Hn."

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Hans snickered. He had given up on a Mysa/Hans pairing, because it was literally impossible. But he felt a weird mischievous spirit in him, and was enjoying the challenge the tyrant in his head had set up for him.

'Hiei and Mysa. How cute!' (I wonder who the tyrant is... Seriously, it could swing either way between Syrin or I. She's also trying to set them up.) He didn't know how he was going to make it work, though. The only semi-solid solution he had hit on was to leave them alone for long stretches of time... and follow them to make sure no one died. Laying low, no longer in the arm shape but as a blob, he followed them silently, so that even Hiei's ears couldn't pick up the sound.

Mysa wondered what to say next. The silence hung over the both of them, only interrupted by the crunch of dirt under their feet, and an occasional bird song. As they walked along, Mysa suspected that Hiei was mad at her, but she was at a loss as to why. So as she walked beside him, unspeaking, she turned the matter over and over in her head.

The only incident she could think of was when she had gotten pissed at him earlier in the morning, before the whole Rex thing or the McDonalds thing. Was he angry at her for former anger at him, or because she had failed some sort of test be proving useless against the Rex? It puzzled her. She didn't know that Hiei's just naturally foul. ( . What a cute evil little guy)

She hadn't been lying to Hans when she had said that her talk with herself had gotten her over her anger at Hiei. She just hadn't told him the whole truth. The fact that the demon had tried to intrude on her privacy had hurt her more then she was willing to admit - after all, she hadn't actually trusted him, now had she? Of course not. Mysa didn't really trust a soul outside of Syrin. So why did it bother her that he hadn't respected her privacy? After a time, she reasoned herself into believing that it didn't hurt, and she didn't care. Along with that, it was firmly established that she did not trust him, and shouldn't trust him, though he had helped with her 'dinosaur problem'.

Still, there was no law against at least getting him to like her, now was there? Friendships weren't necessarily built on trust, were they? Surely there was an exception. Wasn't her friendship with Botan like that?

So she decided to try to make Hiei (at the very least) not mad at her.

"Hey. Sorry for snapping at you earlier. I just need my space, you know? And, sorry for pushing on your barriers. It was more of a gut reflex then any wish to know something you don't want me to know." Mysa smiled brightly when she saw him glance at her. "Just, if you want to know something, ask me next time, okay?" She couldn't help but add.

"Why do you even bother?" He snapped. Mysa blinked. "This whole thing will be done and over with soon. Why are you even trying to make friends? There's a large chance that by the end of this you'll be dead anyway. What will your apologies get you then?" It disturbed Mysa that he figured her out so easily, but she didn't show it. Instead, she scratched her chin and appeared to be thinking.

"My apologies to you would get me nowhere if I told them to Botan; that was a silly question. Why do I try to make friends?" She smiled impudently at him. "Because you're irresistible, Hiei, you demon you." Then she burst out laughing. When the last of her giggles cleared away, she looked over at him, amused. "Kidding, Hiei; you don't have to look so panicked." His face, as a matter of fact, hadn't changed at all except to look even more mad. "Now, as to why I bother: do you want the truth or a nice, easy to swallow little lie?" Hiei continued walking with his head facing forward. He did not spare Mysa a glance as he navigated over the roots, fallen logs, and stones.

Truth or lies; now there was a good question. He did not know that the simple asking of this question indicated the simple respect Mysa had for him. Normally, she just went for the lie.

"Truth." He said, and Mysa nodded somberly.

"All right then. The reason? There's a few. One, I think you're a useful person to have around and at my back in a fight. Two, I just can't shake the impression that you'd be a really cool guy if you'd just lighten up a little, mainly because you remind me of Tashio. He's a lot like you, only looser. Three..." a pause before she plunged into the reason. "...you scare me a little."

Hiei wanted to say something snide here, like: "Of course you're scared of me; I'll kill you without blinking an eye if you get in my way", but the words wouldn't leave his lips. For a moment, it was almost as if he was sad that she was scared of him; then he remembered: he didn't care. Mysa continued.

"I think that if you have a fear, you should confront it. I choose to confront this particular one by simply trying to get along with you." She thought a little more. "I wasn't scared when I first saw you, but when I inspected your katana." She looked at him very seriously. "It cried, Hiei." He returned her gaze cooly.

"You're still talking." He said, but she ignored the jab.

"When I sounded it out. A sword is created to kill people. That's a truth, and I know it. It's shaped, thought of, and thinks of, death and blood. When you ring it, it should sound clear and true; it knows it's purpose, something very few things - and people - can claim. But your sword... its seen enough, Hiei. Its natural thirst for blood has been quenched, then drowned, and yet it still flows. You've killed a lot of people with that sword, Hiei, and its tired." She looked him earnestly in the eyes. "The fact that you could even do that to a sword, make it so that it doesn't long for blood, scared me. _Scares_ me." He looked at her, incredulous.

"You're insane." He said, and she dropped her serious look, smiling widely.

"Yep. But hey, you asked for the truth."

"I wonder if I had said lie if your talking would have stopped sooner."

"Much. I would just have an even lower opinion of you." There was a teasing note in her voice, but a seriousness underlined it.

"Hn." Hiei said, clearly showing that he couldn't care less about her opinion of him. Shrugging, she dug through the pockets of her pants, and pulled out a palm sized knife; just a pocket knife, no big deal. It was rather plain, in fact, but Mysa was treating it as if it were gold. Then, she turned her gaze to the soil near her feet. It took about two minutes for her to find the right sized stick, and she snatched it up without breaking her stride.

The wood was solid and green, not rotted in the slightest. A faint smile still hovering on her lips, she flicked open the pocket knife and began carving.

"What are you doing now?" Hiei asked, irritated.

"Carving," she said shortly, irritating him a little more. "What? Would you like to borrow a knife? Because if you're not going to engage in a conversation, I got to have something to do, or risk annoying you to the point where you stop holding back at all and just kill me." It bothered Hiei how on the mark she was. What bothered him more was how easily she got under his skin.

Forty minutes later, the first of the two hours was gone, passed in almost complete silence except for Mysa's speech at the beginning, and the scraping sound she made as she continued carving. Hiei had been completely silent, thinking - brooding, more like - on what he always thinks about.

A thought occurred to Mysa in mid cut, and it startled her enough that he blade bit deeper into the wood then she had intended. Inspecting to see what kind of damage she had done, she pondered over that strange and completely random thought.

'Yukina?' The face that had flashed with the thought originally was fading, and Mysa scrambled to pick details out of it was best she could. It was of a pretty, pale girl, with light green hair and big red eyes. Everything about her seemed delicate, fragile. 'But... I don't know a Yukina... Hey, brain, what's with the weird thoughts? You breaking down again?' Her brain growled at her and said, 'Not me, you moron. I don't know where that thought came from anymore then you do.' 'Well, since you're the brain who exactly is the moron now?' Mysa shook her head at herself. She was really going to have to stop these imaginary conversations...

"Hey, Hiei," she said, breaking the long standing silence first. He glanced at her, annoyed at having his thoughts disturbed. "Test this edge, will ya?" The piece of wood she had been carving on sailed through the air, and the fire demon caught it deftly. He looked at her like she was an idiot - asking him to test an edge, then throwing him a hunk of wood - then actually looked at what he had caught.

It was a small wooden knife. Hiei : -.-U

"You really are obsessed, aren't you?"

"Like there was ever any doubt. I was younger then Ray-Ray when I discovered my... passion." She had been about to make 'passion' plural, and had had to stop herself. Mysa just hoped he hadn't noticed her pause. "Just test the edge, please."

"Why?" He asked suspiciously. She made bug pleading eyes.

"Please?" For some to remain unexplored reason, he caved, and tested the edge. Any Nengenkai poisons she might had put on it wouldn't effect him, and why would she want to kill him anyway? In a very direct way, he was trying to save her friend's life.

He tested the edge; it was nearly as sharp as his katana.

"Not bad." He said grudgingly. Mysa shrugged off the 'compliment', but she was smiling.

"It's strong enough to kill someone with too. You can keep it, if you want." As a matter of fact, he did, and he tucked it into one of his belts. She gave him a little smile.

"Aw, what a tender moment." A grating, laughing voice said from above them. Without being aware of it, they had walked right into a valley.

Right into a trap.


	11. Winging It, Baby!

_**Ch.11: Winging It, Baby!**_

_W.W.- Another mutant chapter, people! I was going to write something totally different, but it felt too early, so I'm mutating! Wait, that doesn't sound right..._

_Hans: AKA, she's winging it._

_W.W.- SHUT UP! Just because I'm winging it does not make this any less of a story then if it was completely planned out! It's not like I had a real idea for it in the beginning anyway..._

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Mysa looked calmly up at the biggest, meanest looking dude she had ever seen in her life. Then she grimaced.

"What the hell do you mean, a tender moment? What planet are you from? I gave him a knife. Not that big of a deal." Her grimace became worse. "When was the last time you took a bath, Mr. Big-Hairy-Stinky-Guy? I think you're overdue." The man was red in the face, and a course of snickers drifted down to them from the nearby trees.

"Shut up! Hand over your valuables, and no one gets hurt!" Mysa looked at Hiei out of the corner of her eye.

"That line is completely overused. Besides, I don't have any valuables. Do you, Hiei?" Hiei said nothing. The big guy's red had faded away, and now he grinned.

"What about that sword? It's such a pretty little thing, much too good for you." He reached for it, and Mysa snatched his hand, twisting it painfully. All trace of complacency was gone.

"How dare you." She whispered, eyes blazing. Hiei watched her, a look of mild surprise and curiosity on his face. The big man was looking at her with all the stunned intelligence of a fish suddenly pulled out of the water. "How _dare_ you even _try_," she twisted it even more. "...to _touch_ my katana?" Hiei could hear the bones snapping in the man's wrist. The color had drained out of the big guy's face. "With your _filthy_, _unworthy_ hands? Try to touch my baby? Try to _steal _it?" She was still speaking in a whisper. The demon could see a shadow, not a mist, surrounding her, not appearing to be moving quickly, but ..._pulsing_. It was stunningly creepy. Then the man regained enough air to call,

"Now!" A net was yanked up under their feet; Hiei flitted out of range, as did Mysa. The man gaped. "What are you?" He started to get to his feet. In the blink of an eye, Mysa's katana was out, and the edge was pressed hard against his throat.

"Oh, no." she said. "You still have to learn your lesson."

"Boss?" A nervous voice called from the trees.

"Help me, you fools!" He screamed, and the two were now surrounded. Hiei glanced casually around. All humans. Mysa didn't even bother to look. Blood appeared on his neck, and started to flow slowly toward his shirt. "Help me!" He babbled.

"Tried to _steal_ my baby..." Mysa murmured, watching the blood flow. Hiei raised an eyebrow. This was exceedingly weird behavior. Then he turned his attention away from the human girl and her prey, and toward the group of humans now ringing them. He pulled his blade from the sheath, and they all took a nervous step back.

"Don't draw unless you're willing to die," he sneered. Out of the corner of his eye, one did draw, but he wasn't headed for the fire demon. The man was aimed at Mysa. With a snarl, Hiei took the bandit out; Mysa remained oblivious to everything outside her own little sphere.

When they all were... taken care of, he turned to see that the big man was nowhere to be found. His body had disappeared entirely, and Mysa was seated on a rock, watching him. She saw him look for the body, and Mysa shrugged.

"He's dead." The pulsating shadow had dissipated. "And buried. Sort of." A drip of blood caused him to look up. A head was perched on the tip of a branch. Several other branches were also colored red, making Hiei wonder exactly what she had done... then he decided that he really didn't want to know. With a shrug, he continued walking.

"Hn." Was all he said. Mysa got up when he came near, and walked beside him, silent. Hiei glanced over at her once or twice, and each time her face was the same. Set, a little too focused on the ground in front of her, and very pale. The demon found that he could scan her topmost thoughts again with no problem, and with no apparent awareness from Mysa. There weren't really any thoughts. Just... grey.

Soon the two hours was up, and Hans was 'back'.

"All right! We're still going in the right direction, but there's a few obstacles ahead of us. There's an ocean, and a desert, but until then, and after, it's mostly forest. Very few paths. If we walk straight for a few more hours, we should hit one of them. Then, we can follow it to its end, and shave off a couple hours. All set?" Hans looked at Mysa, and no one could see the nervousness he had. He, unlike Hiei, had seen what the human had done to the bandit... and now he could believe her claim of being evil. She smiled at him.

"Yep! All ready!" The dirt arm also noticed her unusual paleness, but it didn't make much of an impression on him. He was still too stunned by what he had just witnessed the supposedly peaceful Mysa do. They continued on their way. "Hey, Hiei, that was pretty impressive, what you did back there. You think you could teach me something?" The fire demon looked at her, eyebrows raised. "Well?" She was blushing with embarrassment. "Can you or not?" The blush grew deeper as he just continued to stare at her.

"Hn." He grunted. Mysa exploded.

"THAT'S NOT AN ANSWER, HIEI! Why can't you just be normal and say yes or no!" She threw up her hands, but fell silent again, stomping along, off all by herself. Soon her stomping stopped and became mere trudging. She was so tired... And it was only noon!

"What would I get out of it?" Hiei asked from beside her. Mysa didn't even have enough energy to jump in surprise. She looked at him.

"I dunno... what do you want?" His gaze studied her up and down, and he snorted.

"You don't have anything I want, human. You find something of worth, and I'll think about it." The ningen thought about being mad, but... it just wasn't worth it. In fact...

Mysa staggered off a ways and sat heavily on a big stone. Hans inched worriedly up to her.

"What's wrong, Mysa-san?" He asked. Trying to look at him, she fell off the rock. "Mysa!" The dirt made hand squealed. Getting up shakily, she said,

"It's all right, I'm fine, really I am. The rock is just slippery, that's all. Wasn't prepared." The girl sat on the rock again.

"You really do need to be taught something if one fight with one human wears you out." Mysa kept silent against Hiei's snide remark. If she wasn't being so taxed when she slept... when her legs felt less like rubber, she got up - despite Hans' protests - and began to walk again, forcing herself to keep pace with Hiei.

She was so focused on doing just that that she didn't notice Hiei slowing down to accommodate her haggard steps.

By mid-afternoon, Mysa felt like she was just going to fall over and die from tiredness, but she kept going, her mind's grey becoming black, little swirls of red popping up now and again to relieve the mundaneness of the constant darkness. They had been progressively going slower as time wore on, and she was less and less able to focus on the ground in front of her, tripping, though not falling, constantly over roots. Hiei watched her openly, guessing that she couldn't really see by now. What was wrong?

The sun had reached about ten o clock in the sky, meaning it was late evening in the Ningenkai. Hiei stopped without warning, and Mysa ran into him.

"Oops." She muttered. "Sorry." She pushed herself off him and tried to walk some more, succeeding only in falling. Hiei caught her before she hit the ground. The human had lost consciousness.

"Hans, set up the tent. She can't go any further." Hans scurried to do the fire demons bidding. While he was gone, Hiei searched Mysa's mind. The black with swirls of red worried him. If you looked at her life energy - which it now occurred to him to do - he could now see that she was more then half dead. Yet she had kept going. What about Syrin inspired such devotion in this girl?

Hans (_what would be a good substitute for 'ran'?_) hurried back to where they were, and skidded to a stop on front of them.

"It's all set up." Hiei nodded, and picked Mysa up bridal-style. She groaned in her sleep and turned in his arms, curling up, so that her face was against his chest and one hand grasped his cloak tightly. The demon waited for her to stop shifting, then carried her over to the tent, not looking at Hans. The arm had left the door flap open, and Hiei walked straight in. Everything was already set up, the bed roll, the pillow. But when the Koorime tried to set her down... she wouldn't let go of his cloak.

Hiei: -.-U. He put her down, and hovered over her awkwardly, trying to release her grip without tearing his cloak. Half dead or not, he couldn't pry her hand open. Finally, with a snarl, he gave up, took off the cloak, and left it with her.

When Hiei came out of the tent in only his sleeveless and pants, it made Hans laugh silently, but since he doesn't have a face, Hiei couldn't tell. Sometimes its good to be a hand made out of dirt.

Inside the tent, a sleeping Mysa smiled a little and curled up around the cloak.

Outside, Hiei scowled at Hans - whom he was sure was laughing, though he couldn't prove it - and settled in a leafy tree to sleep... with one eye open.

And while he slept, he had the strangest dream.

_He's in a dark hall, with big oil portraits on the walls. Walking down, he looks at each face. The first three people he doesn't know, then came Syrin, then himself, then Botan, and a finally, a very faded picture of Yukina. Then the faces were gone: the hall had ended, and he was just floating in a big black nothing. _So far, the dream had been a little strange, but not really. The scenery changes.

_He was floating in what appeared to be a black fog. Gentle golden air currents pushed him around, and moved the clouds beneath him, so that he could see the ground. It looked like the pebbled sand of a beach. A dark ocean washed in not too far from the figures below. As Hiei watched, they began to talk._

"_Come on, we have to practice, I have to learn, I have to get better." A short figure was pacing along the beach, a katana in one hand._

"_Absolutely not. You're killing yourself, and if you die, where would that leave me?" This was said by the other figure, who was considerably taller then the first, and had no katana._

"_How would I know? You're the special one, you figure it out. And while you're doing that, you can teach me something!"_

"_Calm yourself. You're already better then any other human."_

"_That's not enough!" The taller one stalked over to the other, grabbed its shoulders, and shook it a few times._

"_How long have you been able to hide things from me?" No response; a few more shakes. "How long?"_

"_Since about a year after you got here." The short one shrugged off the taller one's hands. "It doesn't matter! I have to be stronger! Can't you feel it coming? I'm not ready and I have to be! So let's practice already!" It dawned on Hiei that the short one who was so persistent, was, in fact, Mysa. The tall one, however, he couldn't place, though it was familiar._

"_I'm telling you, I'm not teaching you anything tonight. You're just not up to it, whether it's coming or not. Even if you learned anything, being dead instead of waking up sure would make you useless. And you shouldn't hide things from me." Hiei was close enough now to see Mysa stick her tongue out at the taller figure. Suddenly, the cloud beneath him burst, as if it was a bubble, sending him plunging toward the sand. A very short plunge, and of course he landed on his feet, so he was unharmed. _

_But, he found to his surprise, he couldn't move very easily. It was as if the gravity was a couple tons heavier. He was shocked a little to see that his feet weren't sinking into the ground._

_Mysa's head whipped around, and she spotted him first._

"_Hiei?" She spluttered, causing the tall one to turn and look. "What are you doing here?" The human looked back at the figure bewilderedly. "What is he doing here? I thought no one but us could get here!" '_What a warm welcome_', Hiei thought sourly, and tried to move again. Still not much luck. Mysa walked toward him with an ease that annoyed him, and poked at his forehead, carefully missing the Jagan. "So that's what's under the headband..." She muttered to herself. He snarled, and found that he could at least talk._

"_Stop that." A moment's surprise, then she smiled._

"_Sorry!" The smile became an evil grin, and she slung her arm around his shoulders. "I see you're having problems moving."_

"_His connection here can't be all that strong then," the taller figure murmured. "We have to send him back. He's not supposed to be here."_

"_And how do you suggest we do that?" Abruptly she took her arm from his shoulder, and looked guilty. "I should probably introduce you two, shouldn't I? Hiei, this is Aryd. Aryd, this is, obviously, Hiei. You, at the least, already know about him. Hiei, Aryd is the person who lives in my head. She's sort of how I would have looked had things turned out right." She whispered to him behind her hand, "But I still think I would have looked better." Talking normally, she continued. "Now, to clear something up: she is not a different personality of me, she's her own entity." Aryd made 'Shut up!' gestures at Mysa, who ignored them. Waving around grandly, she announced, "And this is my little world. Not very bright and charming, is it?" She slung her arm back around his shoulders. "Is anything I'm saying making sense?"_

"_No." Hiei said, and Mysa nodded. _

"_Yep, that sounds about right. So, now that I've shared a little with you, why don't you tell me: how the fuck did you get here?" He raised an eyebrow. "If you don't at least hazard a guess buy the time I count to three, you're going to regret it..." Her voice lilted in a somehow threatening manner. _

_The katana had disappeared, and Hiei knew nothing could hurt him in a dream. So even though he really didn't know, the fact didn't worry him. Besides, she was just a ningen._

"_One."_

"_I don't know."_

"_Two."_

"_Go ahead."_

"_Three." Without warning, Mysa acted on her words. Swooping, she kissed him soundly on the lips._

_Time stopped in the dream. Hiei stood with wide open eyes, staring at her as she kissed him. Breathing didn't occur for him for a moment._

_It was, all together, a strange, but pleasant dream._

_Finally, she broke it off, and smiled at him._

"_Who said I was going to hurt you? I just said you'd regret it." Though he glared at her, he didn't say anything. And... well, he couldn't say that he regretted it. This was probably the most pleasant dream he had had in quite a while. Nothing of a nightmare quality here._

_In fact, he felt extremely safe. _

_Aryd coughed, and it sounded like she was trying to choke back laughter._

"_Excuse me, you two, but we still have an issue. How are we going to get him back?" Hiei shot a glance at Mysa, who was blushing a little bit. There was a silence, in which the demon noticed a few things. _

_For one, Aryd had almost the same face as Mysa, though it was somehow older, and softer, more open. Also, they were both wearing the 'training clothes' - shorts and t-shirts - but Aryd had no scars, though Mysa had plenty. They were just vague blurs in his dream, though, not definite, and sometimes they weren't there at all. _

_The human saw him looking, and tugged fitfully at her shorts with her free hand, but she didn't address it. Instead, she asked lightly,_

"_So, Hiei, I take it you have no problems killing?" _

"_Hn." He said it in a slightly questioning tone, though, so Mysa elaborated._

"_You know. This afternoon... or would it be morning? Anyway, when those bandits stopped us, you didn't seem to have a moral problem with taking them out."_

"_Why should I care? They were trying to get in the way." Mysa nodded at this logic, instead of appearing appalled, like he had half thought she might._

"_Makes sense to me."_

"_What did you do to that guy?" He asked grudgingly. Her eyes widened in shock._

"_Oh, him? Wait a second, I was pretty foggy... Oh, yeah." She shrugged. "I tortured him to death. He tried to take my sword," she added in defense, speaking to Aryd now, rather then Hiei. "You know how that is."_

"_You took his sword and I don't see him torturing you to death." Aryd said in a chastising tone, pointing to Hiei with every him or his._

"_I was just inspecting it, and he knew it. The guy was going to STEAL mine, though. That's unforgivable." The tall one sighed and let it go. "I put too much into Utchat to let some moron steal her."_

"_Which is sort of a good thing. It was starting to poison you."_

"_See? I do take your advice occasionally." Now he was lost._

"_Put too much into it?" He asked again. Mysa looked at him almost like she had forgot he was there. Then she grinned evilly._

"_If you ask me when we're awake, I might tell you. Of course, you'll have to ask nicely."_

"_What's with the scars?" He asked bluntly. The grin faded, and that made him feel a little guilty._

"_I don't feel like telling you that, Hiei." She said quietly. Aryd snorted._

"_Oh, sure. Tell him all sorts of things about me, but one thing about you and you get all 'No'." Mysa shot a look at the tall girl. "Don't worry, I won't say nothing if you don't want me too." _

"_So, where are we?" Hiei asked, looking around with some strain._

"_We're in my head. I really would like to redecorate, but apparently that's 'not allowed'."_

"_Because we're not in your head. At least not totally." Aryd sighed._

"_This has been a weird dream. Probably caused from being in forced contact with a deranged ningen." Mysa looked blankly at him._

"_He's talking about you, idiot." Aryd chortled, and Mysa sniffed_

"_So, will you tell me what type of demon you are yet?" It was his turn to stare blankly. "Yes, I know you're a demon. Botan told me. But when I said you wouldn't tell me what kind, she got all haughty and said I'd have to find out for myself. What's the answer?"_

"_Still don't have the story behind the scars."_

"_I guess that's a no." She took her turn sighing. _

_Abruptly, Hiei felt a tug in the back of his head. He snarled at the pain. _

"_What's wrong?" Mysa asked him worriedly. He shook his head, and she pinched his shoulder. "Something is too wrong. Even killer demons don't snarl at nothing." He glared at her, then snarled again at the tugging in his head, that had moved to his eyes. _

"_He's solving the problem for us. He's leaving. I'm guessing he's waking up." That was Aryd, but her voice was becoming fainter. Mysa looked at the demon with concern._

"_If it's hurting, you probably shouldn't fight it." He had not even realized that he had been. He relaxed, and the pain dissipated as he started to fade. "Bye, Hiei. Nice talking to you." Just as he was about to fully disappear, she winked and said, "And thanks for the cloak." Then he could see nothing._

Hiei snapped awake in the tree, with the sun directly overhead, shining in his eyes. With a growl, he moved to a different, more shady branch, and tried to go back to sleep. Part of his dream came back to him, and he growled more, shooting an evil look toward the tent. Though he couldn't say he hadn't enjoyed it...

What was he thinking? Of course he could! A picture of Mysa's face, smiling at him with warm, gentle eyes, flashed in his mind, and he roughly shoved it away. It had been a dream. Get over it. There's no way that she would like him, anyway, all he had been was short and mean with her, and that's how it would stay.

Back on a beach in a place that didn't exist, yet somehow did, two mis-matched people stood throwing stones into a dark ocean.

"_You shouldn't have done that, you know." Aryd said._

"_Well, he wasn't supposed to be here. Why not let him think it was a dream?" Mysa threw another rock into the water. "I wouldn't of ever been able to get one from him in the real world, anyway. You should take advantage of opportunities."_

"_I still don't get why you even like the guy. He's so ill-tempered."_

"_Oh yeah, and I'm just such a spring-daisy mood wise, myself." She grinned impudently. "He's irresistible, of course." Then the smile faded. "You want to know why, Aryd? I really don't know. Oh, sure, he's cute, but so was Kakashi, and I turned him down. Five times. But Hiei's just... I want to help him. Not change him, just help him. He's going to drown soon. And he's not such a bad guy. He volunteered to help Syrin, he saved me from that T-Rex,"_

"_That you could have saved yourself from if you had not been so hellbent on killing yourself here."_

"_...he helped out with the bandits while I was having an Episode, and he didn't kill the Threesome. That's a pretty big list for two and a half days if he's so evil."_

"_Credit to you, you didn't spill everything while he was here."_

"_Why should I? Like I'd actually want to burden him with my problems." Aryd shook her head._

"_You should probably be leaving too. Go have yourself some real dreams." Mysa didn't move. "You can go of your own free will, or I can force you."_

"_No you can't. But I'll go. Try to think of how he got here, all right? Though it was nice having him here, I don't want him accidentally stumbling in on a conversation of a... different caliber. Just because I like him doesn't mean I trust him." She smiled tightly. "I'm not stupid. I do learn." Aryd actually smiled, and Mysa faded away much as Hiei had done, leaving the tall girl on the beach all by herself._

_It got really quiet, as the girl appeared to be thinking. Then she shook her head, and motioned to the sea. Silently, it rose up, and enveloped her._

_Then, the beach was empty._

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At the place where they had killed the bandits, a green-eyes man walked among the corpses. He kicked one, and giggled. Then, in a stern voice, he commanded, "Wake up."

Slowly, the bodies rose to their feet, discolored where the blood had settled, movements stiff from rigor mortis. Abruptly, screaming filled the air from above them.

"Kill me! Oh, god, please have mercy! Let me die!" With disgust, the green-eyed man flicked his wrist, and the screaming gave way to a sigh, and finally, silence. He turned to his waiting corpses.

"Alright, I just need to know one or two things. Then you all can rest. Deal?" The zombies nodded. "Good. Now..." He asked his questions, and listened attentively to the answers. "Very good. However..." The green-eyed man held up a small silver flask with detailed inscriptions on it. "I am MOST thirsty..." He uncapped the flask, and one by one the bodies dropped, their souls stolen from them once more. When the last had fallen, the green-eyed man raised the flask to his lips and drank half of what was inside. Immediately, his whole person seemed to glow.

He capped the flask and went on his way, whistling.

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Mysa awoke slowly, and stretched. Sharp pains told her that she had slept in her pants, on all the knives and chains. She was just glad none of the knives had popped open and cut her up. That would have been hard to explain; all that blood, and no wounds.

Lifting her hand to rub at her eyes, Mysa found that she was still in possession of Hiei's cloak. There was a rustling at the flap, and she quickly moved the cloak out of sight, under her pillow.

"Mysa-san, may I come in?" Hans asked from outside.

"Sure." The flap unzipped and Hans entered.

"Good morning, Mysa-San!" He chirruped. "How are you feeling today?"

"Rested and raring to go. How are you? How's Hiei?"

"I'm good, and glad that you're feeling better. You were a real mess yesterday. Hiei's still sleeping. He didn't sleep any last night, so I figure he's making up for it."

"Oh." Her voice dropped down to a whisper. "Then we should probably be quiet. Or leave. For a little while, anyway. Do you know anything we can do near here?"

"We can go swimming," Hans suggested.

Mysa blinked, then frowned.


End file.
